Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Tuesday, May 19, 2015 -- Mattie died 297 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken on May 5 of 2002, almost one month after Mattie was born. We took Mattie out for fresh air with Peter's parents and family. They gave him this cute beanie rabbit and as you can see Mattie was trying desperately to focus upon it and to engage with it. I will never forget that day, because the town of Arlington was celebrating Cinco de Mayo, and I was so out of it with a newborn, I did not know which end was up from exhaustion and no sleep. 


Quote of the day: Generosity consists not of the sum given, but the manner in which it is bestowed. ~ Mahatma Gandhi



Peter and I received our professional Walk photos today from Herman, the Foundation's photographer. I am slowing combing through them, but in Herman's typical fashion, he did a great job capturing the energy and feeling for the event! As I told him he is my eyes for the event, because I am so busy talking to people that I would say I miss a good 85% of what is actually happening at the Walk. I observe snippets of things, but Herman's snapshots are an excellent reminder for me! 

The photo above is a wonderful banner shot that was taken literally right before our "Mattie Miracle" Level Corporate Sponsor ($5000 level) sounded the horn to begin the Walk! It was a colorful start!!!

and the walk began..........

Once the walk was underway around the track, participants were able to view our 26 Faces of Hope posters. These are faces of children or teens who are either in treatment or are survivors of childhood cancer. We reminded our walkers that 46 children a day are diagnosed with cancer and that they are walking for children like the ones they see in the posters. Particularly to help meet their psychosocial needs because these needs are vital throughout the treatment journey. However, they are also crucial post-treatment into survivorship, and these faces should always remind us that cancer and its affects do not end ONCE THE TREATMENT DOES! 

I love this photo because to me it captures the faces of walkers who were touched by what they were seeing and reading on the posters in front of them. They were looking at the Faces of Hope posters while doing the Challenge Walk around the track!

I am signing off for tonight because I will need a few days to catch up on rest, before I really can dig through the photos and present them in a logical order. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying the progression of photos I am sharing with you.