Wednesday, October 17, 2012Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2009. The first thing you probably see was Mattie's goofy face. In the midst of pain, fear, treatment, and chaos, we did have our funny moments, and this was indeed one of them. Mattie was creating a house out of popsicle sticks and had his trusty glue gun with him! In fact, prior to Mattie I never used a glue gun in my life. It was through Mattie, that I got my excellent glue gun training. I learned from the master.
Quote of the day: Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. ~ James Bryant Conant
This is a cute quote, but on a day like today, it is so meaningful. My friend Heidi connected me with a friend of hers who is a professional fundraiser. I am not a fundraiser by any stretch of the imagination, and asking for money is not my strong suit. So in essence having to learn to do this is like a turtle coming out of its shell! Nonetheless, for the good of the Foundation, I have been learning to stick my neck out, because without funds, I know we would be unable to support the psychosocial needs of children and their families with cancer.
Peter and I met with Jen today and chatted about our Foundation's Walk. As most of my readers know, we host a Foundation Walk each May. This tradition was started by Team Mattie, a group of committed people who met our every care need when Mattie was battling cancer, and even months after his death. To me the Walk is so symbolic of this amazing group of people, people who banded together to plan a fun event for Mattie. An event where he could see how many people loved and supported him. For three years now, after Mattie's death, we have continued the Walk tradition. Yet with each subsequent Walk, I realize that our attendance dwindles. Fortunately the attendance dwindles, but not the funding. But attendance is crucial to generate awareness, energy behind the cause, and of course to continue to build our support network. So with that said, we are now looking into having a 5K walk/run and family festival in May. Big changes are afoot and right now I have more questions and logistical concerns than anything else. Stay tuned as plans unfold.
I wanted to share this picture with you tonight. I took it this morning. I have noticed the past several days that Patches spends her time on Mattie's pine chest. In fact, if you look closely you can see "pinkie" and "blue boy" right next to her head. These two wooden characters were used many a time during Mattie's play therapy sessions in the Hospital. Blue Boy was good and Pinkie was a rebel. These characters helped Mattie communicate how he was feeling and the play scenarios he concocted were incredible. Yet I find it fascinating that Patches would choose to sit on Mattie's wooden boat and wooden chest. I can't imagine this was comfortable. Patches actually spends a great deal of time in Mattie's room and I firmly believe she grieves in her own way. 
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