Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2007. We took Mattie down to the National Mall to see the Christmas Tree right outside the White House, along with all the trees from the 50 states. It was a cold night and despite living in DC for years, that was our first time venturing to see the trees up close! Mattie inspired us and around the main tree was a fantastic train set! It was operational and memorizing. Even in the cold!!! In addition to the trees, there was a yule log burning, which was another first for me! I have never seen one of those..... only heard about them! So in between feeling frozen we got to stand by the fire which was quite special. A magical night.
Quote of the day: Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~ Mark Twain
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Whenever I see three of any creature, my mind naturally leaps to Mattie, Peter, and me! When Mattie was battling cancer, we had a mama mourning dove who claimed her territory in one of our planters on our deck. She laid her eggs in it, and she sat on those eggs for what seemed like forever. It was the only time we have ever seen such an occurrence in all the years we have lived here. But now when I saw these doves today, I instantly remembered that moment in time. I was transported back to when Mattie was ill, when we watched this mother dove roosting on her eggs.
This evening I was invited to one of my friend's neighborhood holiday parties. Typically I do not go to parties, but since my friend asked me to go, I went. The ironic part about all of this is, I don't live in my friend's neighborhood, but I know a fair share of people who live there. I reconnected with a woman tonight who I had met at my friend's house years ago. She has her own cancer story, which is how we got connected. In any case, tonight we picked up right where we left off. Isn't that funny how that can happen with a person. She receives our Foundation newsletters and keeps up to speed on our happenings. However, she shared with me that our story inspired her so much that she started making fleece shawls/blankets and donates them to Georgetown University Hospital Child Life's program. Not just one or two, try 77 shawls!!!! Shawls which are given to pediatric patients and family members. I was absolutely shocked and told her that she and I have to sit down and discuss this in depth because this is a story that has to be told!!! To me, it was fate that I go to the party tonight and the ironic part is if you could hear some of the things we were talking about, it most likely would have depressed the average listener. Yet for me, I actually found it empowering. It is always a good feeling when you find someone else who truly gets it and understands.
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