Thursday, December 29, 2011Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008. Mattie's last Christmas with us. In this particular picture, Mattie was terribly sick. He was running a high fever and feeling absolutely depleted. However, Linda (Mattie's Childlife Specialist) had Santa and Mrs. Claus make a special visit to Mattie's clinic room since he was unable to attend the Hospital's Christmas party. When Santa came in Mattie's head was planted on top of the pillow. Slowly though as Santa began talking to Mattie, Mattie lifted his head up for a quick picture and to see all the wonderful toys Santa brought with him. Santa (with the guidance of Linda) brought all of Mattie's favorites, Legos and remote controlled cars!!! This picture may seem cute, but you need to understand how awful Mattie was feeling and the enormous effort it took for him to lift his head, taking that into account, this makes this picture seem superhuman and leaves you in awe of his strength.
Quote of the day: One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession. ~ Sophocles
Disembarkation day is always stressful to me. Maybe it is because over 2000 people have to orderly pack up, leave the ship, claim their luggage, and find their way to the airport. Either case, there is a level of freneticism at the end of a cruise that I don't care for. Ten days on the Ship went fast and yet I was ready today to get back to solid ground. No matter how big a cruise liner is after a while you can feel confined and also you can reach your fill of their commercialism and the crowds with which you have to share your vacation space.
We had breakfast together with my parents this morning before saying our good-byes. Our waiter today was Dejan. Over the past several days we have had the pleasure of interacting with him. He is from Macedonia and is simply delightful. He is a quick study and gets to know his passengers well. In any case, when you are sitting at his station within the dining room, you always feel cared for. Or as he says, he wants his passengers to feel as if they are visiting him at his home, and he wants us to feel welcome. He is very successful at accomplishing his goal.
I am in amazement by many of the cruise ship crew. These people work seven days a week for 10 straight months. They never get weekends or holidays off! Frankly I am not sure how these people avoid burnout! Their work isn't easy, especially when you take into account that they work on a moving ship, which can be rocking and swaying. They also have to contend with challenging passengers who at times have unrealistic demands. If those two things aren't bad enough, then consider that they live in rooms underneath the waterline of the ship and share tight quarters with other crew members. Yet the crew is away smiling and works hard to make sure you are happy. As we got off the Ship, 2000 new passengers were headed aboard this afternoon. The crew then starts the process all over again. To me their work is exhausting and it leaves me wondering how much they are getting paid. Many of the crew are motivated by the money, which helps support their families back at home.
We waited for four hours in the Ft. Lauderdale airport today until our flight was scheduled to take off. The airport was an absolute ZOO! Way too many people in a confined terminal. Our terminal was old and tired, with few stores and restaurants, and not enough seats for those of us waiting to take off. Peter and I spent over an hour walking together back and forth in this small space. I am sure we looked nuts, but we did not care. It beat sitting on the floor or having people crowding our space. I wish I had my pedometer on me, because I am sure we walked at least two miles in the terminal space.
While walking a shiny penny caught my eye. It caught my eye because it seemed to have landed right by Peter's foot as he was walking. I had Peter stop and pick up the penny in remembrance of Mattie. Mattie loved collecting pennies and had an eagle eye to spot them! My parents introduced Mattie to the penny fairy (they would plant pennies all over our home for him to find and tell him that the penny fairy came by to visit him). Now that Mattie is gone, we can't help but think of Mattie every time we see a penny on the ground.
I have been in a ship, taxi, and plane today and I can say that I am thrilled NOT to be moving tonight. Though my head hasn't reached equilibrium. I still feel as if I am on a ship rocking and swaying. This feeling will last for days for me. As we were flying into DC, Peter snapped some wonderful pictures of the city. Unlike Ft. Lauderdale, it is cold and grey in DC. As always the flight from Florida to DC was turbulent, which I absolutely can't stand. Today's remedy that kept me in my seat and dealing with these feelings was singing. I did not do it out loud, but I did it in my head. I am not sure why I selected Day by Day from Godspell, but that was what was playing in my head. You know how it goes..... Day by day, Oh dear Lord, Three things I pray..... To see thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, Follow thee more nearly, Day by Day. As we arrived at the airport and were headed out of security to collect our luggage, I observed a little boy who was traveling with his dad. The boy was reunited and greeted his mom at the airport. He was so excited that he ran up to his mom as she was coming out of security. I absorbed this and so did Peter, yet neither one of us said anything. Because just a few years ago this was us, when I got back from a conference Mattie always acted just like the little boy I saw today.
Any case, we are back in DC, and though I haven't been following the blog counts while I was away, I am thrilled to see that the blog had almost 2000 hits during this holiday break. As always thank you for checking in with us and for reading.
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