Friday, November 9, 2012Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2006. Mattie loved to paint these three dimensional wooden models. Mattie would build the model, glue it together, and when it dried, would paint it. I have several of Mattie's models in our home today. Mattie enjoyed painting in our living room and the beauty of Mattie was he took pride in his work and therefore paint did not land up all over the place. In so many ways Mattie and I were a lot alike. We liked to be creative, but organization and order were very important to us.
Quote of the day: Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. ~ Henry Van Dyke
My friend Charlie sent me this quote today, and as soon as I read it, it spoke to me immediately. The beauty of this quote is we all wait, fear, grieve, rejoice, and love. At some point in our lives we can say that time stood still, moved too quickly, or even lasts an eternity. These are all aspects of time that we can relate to, and yet the death of a child changes time altogether for parents. Our typical mile markers that help orient us to time and place are gone, and instead, grief becomes a constant. Almost like the ticking of a clock. It is ingrained in our heart, mind, and body. Just when one takes a pause from grief, the reality sets in, and the guilt from this mental pause can set you back ten steps. With grief, time can move slow, fast, and last an eternity all at one time. In so many ways it feels like Mattie just died and yet I know it was three years ago.
I had a marathon licensure board meeting today, so this evening I am mentally wiped out. After the five hour meeting, I then hopped into the car and commuted around Alexandria collecting candy for the Mattie Miracle candy drive. This evening I emailed Linda (Mattie's child life specialist) at the Hospital to give her a heads up that our candy supply this year is about three times more than what is was last year. It has been an amazing and yet overwhelming response by our supporters!
When I got home this evening, my front seat, back seat, and trunk were filled with candy. Keep in mind that I have been collection candy ALL week! 
So far this is what our sorting has produced. However, I brought home the equivalent of what you are seeing on the floor tonight. Peter and I have our work cut out for us and by the end of the weekend, candy will literally be everywhere. I can assure you that when you have this significant amount of candy in one location the smell is almost sickening. It is hard to describe if you haven't experienced it. Some of you will just have to take my word for it.
The majority of candy has been collected, yet I know a few more groups who are still in the process of getting the candy to me. It is my hope that next week, I can get all the candy sorted and then delivered to the Hospital. Stay tuned for a total weight collected. Unlike last year, this year's collection is TOO significant to count item by item. Instead, we will be reporting the collection in pounds.
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