Saturday, March 22, 2014

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. That weekend we took Mattie to the Hospital for a special event.... the unveiling of the child life art hallway. Mattie and I had several exhibits on display. Mattie envisioned what a hospital room should look like and built a model of this room out of Legos. This model was on display and a cute description of this model, which involved a creative story, is still on display within the hospital's hallway. I occasionally get to see this story when I walk through this hallway, and every time I see it, I am transported back to March of 2009. Also still on display in this hallway is a poster I created about cancer care and the importance of our support networks within the hospital. Rather ironic, I was advocating even back then, before Mattie died. Pictured in this photo in the back row was Peter, me, Meg (Mattie's child life intern and racing buddy), Jenny (Mattie's art therapist), and Linda (Mattie's child life specialist). In the front row from left to right was Kathleen (Mattie's Hem/Onc Nurse), Mattie, and Brandon (Mattie's Big Buddy). To put things into perspective, Jenny, Kathleen, and Meg are no longer at Georgetown. So our Georgetown family has gotten much smaller since 2009. 


Quote of the day: Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people. ~  Arthur Schopenhauer


It is hard to believe that today was in the 60s! Peter and I had all the windows and front door open. Not necessarily because I thought it was warm, but because we were painting YET again! In the Fall we started a big painting campaign of our home. We have been working slowly throughout each room and this weekend we decided to tackle our first and second floor hallways. That may sound like an easy project but our ceilings are close to 10 feet tall and our hallways haven't been painted in over a decade. So the walls and ceilings just seem to just devour the paint. We have been at it all day and have another day ahead of us tomorrow. But it has been glorious to have fresh air traversing our home. 



Peter went outside to our commons area and came back and shared the first signs of spring with me. These are our Daffodils! I have no idea how or why they have sprouted up through the snow we had recently, but they are a glorious sight!

In addition to our daffodils, we also have crocus planted in our commons area. We do not have to plant these things for others to enjoy, but it gives us pleasure to see these signs of spring. So hopefully others enjoy it too. I know our neighbor, Malcolm, who used to live above us always appreciated our plantings and Christmas lights. Though he no longer lives in our complex, he writes to me often and is a Mattie Miracle supporter. He tells me often that our kindness in the complex made some of his difficult days more manageable. Which always brings a smile to my face. There is something to be said about making one's exterior world more beautiful. It does influence one's interior world! Maybe that is why we have been painting since September!