Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Tuesday, April 1, 2014 -- Mattie died 238 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2005, during Mattie's third birthday. Mattie was a huge Blue's Clues fan. So we hosted a Blue's Clues party for him, with a treasure hunt included! In addition, I also hired a college student who I met to come and perform a little magic show and to bring his pet bunny for the kids to meet. The bunny's name was Hobbs, and he was a huge hit! I remember that day so vividly! Mattie gravitated to bright colors, which is why the Foundation's main color is Orange!


Quote of the day: Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. ~ Khalil Gibran

I am so glad many of you wrote to me and enjoyed Peter's blog posting yesterday. Peter does have a way with words as well as capturing feelings and emotions. Neither one of us slept well last night! You would think we had something very stressful planned for today! I have been dealing with intense stress, sickness, and pain since the beginning of February. So being asked to take a break now seems almost impossible for my body to do. At 6:30am, I gave up and got out of bed. But there is a level of anxiety for me about sleeping, a task that comes easily to others, doesn't for me. Yet without sleep, everything is affected from my headaches to my mood and ability to think clearly. Later in the morning, I snapped this photo from our window. Yesterday it was overcast, so to see the sun today was a glorious treat. Today was the perfect weather day. 

My friend and colleague, Nancy, lives part of her year in Florida. She returns back home tomorrow, but fortunately our schedules overlapped today. Peter and I drove to visit her and her husband, Marv at their condo. Along our journey, we passed these lovely palms along the side of the road. Definitely NOT a Washington, DC site!!!! So naturally I had to capture it.

Nancy and Marv live in a golf course community and as such they are surrounded by lush vegetation and a great deal of wildlife. Check out this wonderful duck family. A type of duck, I am not familiar with, nonetheless the ducklings were priceless!! A sighting Mattie would have gone bananas over! I could just hear Mattie saying to me..... "look a mama and her baby, just like you and me!"

Nancy and I have known each other a long time and we have a lot in common. At the heart of our friendship is great respect for each other. It was so nice to meet today, to see Nancy's condo, to see how she has transformed it, to admire her art work and collections, and to get to know her husband better. We all had a fun time chatting and connecting.  

Right in Nancy's backyard was this wonderful White Heron!

Nancy and Marv gave us a tour around their wonderful complex. We saws their pools, theater, and all sorts of recreational areas. All these areas are lined with beautiful trees and vegetation. Even these spectacular bougainvillea
bushes! So vibrant! A glorious sight for us, since all we have seen in DC is rain, grayness, and snow!

Hiding in the bougainvillea was this amazing GREEN lizard. He was checking us out, I think he was equally fascinated by us. All I know is that Mattie would have been thoroughly intrigued by this fellow!

Nancy surprised me with several gifts today in honor of Mattie's birthday this week. This was one of the gifts Nancy made for us. A very meaningful and thoughtful gift as Nancy knows how much I love sunflowers and capture Mattie's spirit in butterflies. When I planned a trip to Florida, it never dawned on me that I would connect with a friend. Especially during the week of Mattie's birthday. But I am so happy that Nancy reached out to us and that we were able to spend this time together today. Friendship is built on time, sharing of feelings and thoughts, and understanding. Nancy and I have years of this! 

This evening Peter and I went to the Blue Moon Fish Company. It is on the Inter Coastal in Ft Lauderdale. We went to this restaurant years ago with my parents. I mean years ago, pre-Mattie days. Today we ventured back. Back then, the moon did not mean anything to me. NOW of course, it symbolizes my Mattie Moon! So I had to snap a photo of the sign. 

I captured the sun setting while having dinner! Apparently I was the only nut interested in this! I got up, went down to the dock and took a photo. 

On the car ride home, we met "Tuxedo Puss." Is this not a cutie?!!!! My first Ft Lauderdale puss sighting!!!

Though Peter did not mention this yesterday, I have been battling with the Westin since we got here. I will spare you the details. But today's issue was so over the top that it is worth mentioning. After visiting Nancy, we got back to the room and the phone rang. It was one of the hotel managers. He began telling me that another hotel guest was coming in on Friday. Note the date, April 4th, Mattie's birthday. The manager basically lost me at that point. But he kept on talking. Any case, the guest is coming in on Friday and needed an adjoining room for his entire family. The room he needed was MINE. So the manager wanted to move me out. He therefore wanted to upgrade my room. Sounded okay in theory. He agreed to show me the upgraded room and would move me today for my troubles. Again, all great in theory and would comp me $100 credit in the hotel. So I met with him at the suite that he wished to upgrade me to. I walked into the suite, and I looked out the window. Mind you I paid for an oceanfront room with a balcony. The hotel has NO balconies, yet sells their Juliet door balconies as true balconies (another issue for a travel blog)! This suite not only has no Juliet door balcony, it looks onto a roof.... a fabulous view for me! I practically lost it. To me looking at the ocean is therapeutic. That is the whole reason I paid for an ocean front room. Besides being unhappy with the current room I am in because of a major sound issue, and other problems, he now has the audacity to ask me to move during Mattie's birthday to accommodate another family. Well at that point, I let him have it. I never raised my voice. I was even toned the entire time. I was matter of fact, calm, and spoke the facts.

The facts were as such. I paid for an ocean front room. I paid for a balcony. I did not get one. I asked for the music by the pool which was blaring through our balcony door to be turned down, it wasn't. I also told him if the Westin did not demand to be pre-paid, I would have checked out the day I checked in and went to the Harbor Beach Marriott, a property that surpasses his on all levels. But the true insensitivity has come on a day that is significant to me, April 4. I explained to him why Peter and I are on this trip, and that April 4th is Mattie's birthday. Asking us to play musical chairs when we are already depressed is beyond insensitive, especially when he plans to move us to a room looking at a ROOF!!!!

By the time I finished with Richard, he was speechless. We departed from each other and when I got back to my room, he called me back. Richard was very moved by my story and said that cancer has touched his life too. He said he imagines Peter and I are going through a hard time and apologized that he put us in such a position. Therefore he wants to move us to the 11th floor and give us an executive suite. He met me a second time and showed me this suite, which is a complete 180 from the suite he showed me that overlooked the roof. So tomorrow, Peter and I are moving buildings and floors. Honestly this whole conversation today greatly upset me. I am tired of constantly having to advocate, speak up for myself and others. I most likely would have stayed in our room and minded my own business if he did not call me today specifically regarding April 4. Nonetheless, people like Richard do show me that decency exists in the world and he took the time to truly listen, care about his guests, and in the end did the right thing.