Thursday, November 21, 2013

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken on Peter's birthday in November of 2007. That day before Peter got home from work, Mattie and I baked a cake together. That was a tradition Mattie and I did to celebrate Peter's day. Notice the cake is ALL vanilla. Clearly a Mattie designed cake, but Peter is just like Mattie. Neither of them are chocolate fanatics like me. As Peter's birthday recently passed, it was hard to reflect on moments like this within our home. Life for us is so different now and at times it is easy to wonder whether we were ever parents at all.




Quote of the day: There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate. ~ Linda Grayson

Yesterday my dad sent me an email asking me whether I contacted the media about covering the story of the Foundation's candy drive. I hadn't thought about it for this year, mainly because Fox 5 covered our candy drive last year. Not to mention that I am simply exhausted from schlepping and sorting candy!!!

My dad tried to impress upon me that this is another year, with twice the amount of candy, and far more logistics in play. I heard what he was saying and therefore reached out to our contact at Fox 5 news and alerted her of this year's success. She instantly responded to my email. Mind you she was the reporter who covered our 1000 pound success last year. She told me she was committed to a story this morning but was going to see what she could do. We are very grateful to Beth Parker once again for coming through for us.

This morning at 7am, I received an email from the assignments editor at Fox 5. He let me know that I should contact him immediately because he wanted to try to get our story covered. Literally at 7am, Peter and I were coordinating plans. The camera truck showed up at our complex by 8am and everyone in the complex was taking notice. The camera technician, Pat, was wonderful!!! Pat explained to me that my interview was most likely going to be live with the anchors in the studio and therefore I would need to wear an ear piece. I did not like that whole notion because it is very hard to talk to someone without that person being physically present. Not to mention the ear piece itself is disorienting. However, Pat did alert me to the fact that Wisdom Martin, the Fox 5 morning anchor was trying to make his way through traffic to our complex. If he arrived on time, then I wouldn't need the ear piece and could talk live to Wisdom.

The coordination of trying to load the cars today was a feat of grand proportion. We got our building's plant manager involved. Ollie mobilized forces and had two of his crew helping us with rolling carts and bins. We really needed all these men because moving 2000 pounds of candy from one part of our complex to another is close to impossible. Ollie allowed us to park in the complex's loading dock and this is where candy was loaded and our interview occurred.

However it is times like this when I really need an assistant. I was balancing a camera, a phone, and trying to figure out what I was going to be saying. While taking photos and the interview taking place my friend in cancer, Ilona, started sending out messages on Twitter and Facebook for us. That was an absolute gift to us.

Peter snapped a photo of me talking with Wisdom (by the way I asked him how he got his name, and it is a family name, originating from the bible) and you can see Pat, the cameraman. Pat really helped us stage the candy on the car and around the car and even caught Peter and the men in motion carrying candy and loading the minivan.

Ollie, Emmett, John, and Peter moved all this candy today and loaded a minivan and my car. We couldn't have done it without their help!

When I am telling you we had a full minivan, I am not kidding you. There was only room for Peter to drive it, no one else could have fit inside with him.

My car wasn't as weighed down as the minivan, nonetheless, it was quite full too.

In this photo from left to right are Detra, Wisdom, Vicki, and Peter. Detra was managing our front deck this morning and she happens to be a huge Wisdom fan. So Wisdom was gracious and allowed us to take photos with him. Peter and I are very fond of Detra and all the staff working in our complex. In so many ways, they are like our second family. They really look out for us, and today was case in point. People bent over backward to help us. Wisdom is a true charmer and a delight to talk with. He is beautiful both inside and out and I can see why he works the early morning shift. He is like a ray of sunshine even on a cold and cloudy day.

When we arrived at Georgetown University Hospital this morning we were greeted by Linda (Mattie's Child Life Specialist), Katie and Jess (Child Life Specialists), and a child life intern. It literally took all of us to unload this candy from the minivan and car and cart it to the storage unit within the Hospital. I stayed with the cars, but Peter tells me that people within the hospital were all aglow by seeing the candy strolling by in huge carts. Perfect strangers were staring and then started up conversations about candy and their favorite candy. I am sorry I missed this because I think candy is a unifying force and most of us have good feelings when we see a piece of candy that we love. Apparently the word in the hallways today was that Snickers are the best!!!

It is no secret that I am very fond of Linda, Mattie's Child Life Specialist. Linda and I went through a great deal together and through these moments, we developed trust and a deep rapport with each other. Being in her presence today somehow reminded me of Mattie and our bond we all share together. It is with gratitude that I always remember Linda, Mattie's buddy and fierce advocate.