Sunday, October 26, 2014

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2002. Mattie was six months old and this was his first Halloween. We did not dress Mattie up in a costume that year but I did prop him up by a big pumpkin. The pumpkin in a way was bigger than he was!  


Quote of the day: The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it. ~  Johann Wolfgang von Goeth


Goeth was very insightful. Many in our society live to work, rather than work to live. In some ways, I have seen this happen within my own life. Without Mattie, the work that I do has become my life. Mattie Miracle is my work, my child, and my family. Which can be problematic and all encompassing. When I read this tonight, it really spoke to me because despite when it was written, it transcends time and context. Context because I am sure Goeth did not have cancer in mind when making this statement. But cancer has a way of transforming a parent's life and in the process a parent can turn to different ways of coping to fill the void. One of my coping strategies has been non-stop work. Which can be exhausting for me and others around me. 

I received a text message today from my friend Maria. She alerted me to check our front desk! When we went downstairs to the front desk of our complex, Peter found this wonderful note and a whole lot of candy awaiting us!!!

Several of the staff members in our Complex are participating in our Post-Halloween Candy Drive that the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation is running this year. This is our fourth year in a row that we are hosting this drive and all the candy collected goes to the free snack cart that revolves around the floor of the Georgetown University Hospital. We are one of the founders of this cart and the primary supplier of this cart that offers free snacks to families who are caring for children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses within the hospital. 

We are very grateful to the generosity and kindness of our friends at Columbia Plaza and for their continued support for five years!!!

It was a crystal clear day today and from our window we could see our wonderful oak tree. I refer to this tree as "Mattie's tree." I call it Mattie's tree because in the spring, we would get leaves from this tree to feed Mattie's caterpillars. Mattie always brought home caterpillars from school, we would put them in jars, feed them, wait for them to spin their cocoons, and then a week later we would have a moth releasing ceremony on our deck. We had many such ceremonies. We learned quickly that tent moth caterpillars ONLY liked to eat oak leaves! Since Mattie was determined to keep these caterpillars alive and therefore I was his side kick in this endeavor, this oak tree means a lot to me.

Peter snapped some lovely flower photos today! I love the perspective of this pink geranium with Mattie's oak tree in the background. 

Mattie's paper whites are still blooming! We planted them around the time of Mattie's 5th anniversary, September 8th!