Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. We took Mattie to Los Angeles to visit my parents and while there we went to Travel Town, which is part of Griffith Park. Travel Town is an experience, especially if you are a train buff. Trains of all kinds are on display and many of which you can climb aboard and walk through. Mattie loved playing with Thomas trains, so when he actually got to see real trains, many of which are historic, he was very excited. I snapped a photo of Mattie and Peter as they explored this train, this was just one of many they jumped aboard that day.
Quote of the day: Turning up our light in the presence of those whose light is dim becomes the difference that makes the difference. ~ Eric Allenbaugh
I want to thank so many of you for emailing me and also posting comments on Mattie's blog regarding the tree. Based on the responses I am getting, I see you all share in this difficult decision. There really isn't a winner or number one choice from our poll. I would say I have almost equal ratings for the Yellowwood, Red Maple, and Sweet Gum trees. I did speak to a tree expert at Mattie's school today, and after talking with him, I have eliminated the Sweet Gum tree. The school selects a hybrid that doesn't have the star shaped leaves or the spikey fruits hanging from it. To me, that is what makes the Sweet Gum priceless (or priceless from Mattie's perspective). So it seems to me, we are debating between the Red Maple and the Yellowwood. I learned that the school has several other Red Maples on the campus but NO Yellowwood trees. This could be potentially the first Yellowwood on the campus. As someone wrote to me yesterday, the beauty of the Yellowwood is that it blooms in the spring and in the fall it turns golden yellow (symbolizing Childhood Cancer Awareness month). Any case, I was given a few local addresses that have a Yellowwood tree in their yards, so I will be able to see a live example for myself this weekend and then try to come to some conclusions. But since so many of you weighed in on this with me, I wanted to keep you up to date on the tree.
I am rarely on Facebook, it is not a form of media I enjoy exploring. I am not sure why. Maybe because if I want to connect with friends, I rather email or text message them directly. With that said, I certainly think there are many good reasons to turn to Facebook.... to see photos, get updates on friends and family, and even to support various social causes. While visiting one Facebook page this week, I noticed that my posting about the GOLD campaign, which I wrote about on the blog earlier in the week, was mentioned. As a recap, September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, as such, many people around the Country are promoting GOLD ribbons and lights. Gold is the official color of childhood cancer.
The fact that my posting was on Facebook was not what caught me by surprise. Instead it was the response that someone had to my posting that shocked me. This was a person who works in the pediatric oncology arena. Her feelings were that the GOLD campaign is NICE but really isn't of substance. That we can't waste our time with things that aren't substantive, but should instead focus upon all the important strides and achievements that have been made to date. Besides rarely being on Facebook, I also rarely respond to postings that I see. But somehow this merited a response.
Strides and achievements to date in childhood cancer ......... UMM..................
Well let me stop and think about this. This is where we are at, you tell me if you think these are strides to celebrate:
1) kids with cancer are treated with drugs from the 1950s and 1960s
2) only one new drug (well technically two, but only one of them is an anti-cancer treatment agent) has been approved by the FDA for childhood cancer in the last twenty years
3) the National Cancer Institute spends 4% of its funding on childhood cancer
4) each day around four children die from childhood cancer
5) yearly 15,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer
6) of the 350,000 childhood cancer survivors who are living in our Country around 75% contend with life altering side effects from the treatment
7) cancer rates have increased 0.6% every year since 1975, which is an overall increase of 21% in the last 36 years
How do you like these accomplishments to date?????!!!! This is pathetic and through my lens, a mom who lost a child to cancer, this speaks to a lack of awareness of this disease in our Country.
Am I personally doing a GOLD campaign, wearing gold, and promoting this through Mattie Miracle? NO I am not. Because as the president of the Foundation I have to pick my battles and invest my time in activities that solely fulfill our mission. Yet with that said, I admire those parents and advocates in our Country who are out there and beating the pavements to bring awareness to a national health crisis. A crisis that gets talked about by politicians but at the end of the day, really gets swept under the rug. Acknowledging September as National Childhood Cancer Awareness month has to mean something and those who wanted the White House glowing in GOLD lights this month were doing just that. They were trying to get our Nation's leader to make a statement, a statement he freely makes in October with breast cancer. Sure, childhood cancer has to be more than just a gold campaign, but unfortunately we live in a world that without a campaign, media attention, and a ton of funding nothing can get accomplished. Don't down play those who are out there spreading the GOLD message around, we all have to do our part, and frankly from where I am standing true change and achievement occurs through such grass root efforts.
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