Tonight's picture was taken on February 6, 2009. What I love about this photo is it illustrates the entourage that accompanied Mattie on his physical therapy sessions. Standing behind Mattie was Jenny (one of Mattie's art therapists), Denise (Mattie's social worker), Jessie (one of Mattie's art therapists), and Anna's physical therapy intern. Who you can't see was Anna, but she was there leading the pack, holding Mattie's IV and pushing his IV pole. This may seem cute or perhaps over the top, depending upon your advantage point. But in all reality Mattie needed this kind of energy and support from those around him who cared for him. Mattie was physically exhausted from treatment and was in pain from both surgeries and battling cancer. Therefore, this incredible show of support was the exact motivation that Mattie needed and I will never forget.
Quote of the day: I feel I’ve lost every part of me…there’s nothing left but the parts I’ve given to you. I need you to hold those pieces together. Please don’t forget who I was…then…then there really will be nothing left. ~ Cassandra Giovanni
Not being a football fan, I have trouble with the obsession over the Super Bowl. I am not sure what troubles me more, the sport itself or the OUTRAGEOUS amount of money spent over this production. It is most definitely a production, starting with the half time show (which with every successive year pushes on us LESS and LESS musical talent, and instead makes up for this lack of class with lights, animation, and special effects!) and ending with the many TV commercials generated for this special night.
One of the ads this year is called "Super Bowl Babies." Basically it highlights children who were conceived in the city of the winning team, nine months after the win. In the CBS News ad below, it says, "for 49 years, our fans have rallied around their favorite teams on
Super Bowl Sunday and passed their pride and passion down to the next
generation," said NFL Chief Marketing Officer Dawn Hudson. "We are
excited to celebrate our football families by shining the spotlight on 'Super
Bowl Babies,' those fans born into a lifelong love of their team and the
game."
This commercial seems to directly point to our society's misdirected priorities and yet, I bet it becomes a very popular and well watched ad. But to me, we are more wrapped up as a society over a sport and the "family" such a sport produces than bringing attention to more serious minded topics such as childhood cancer. I see it daily on social media sites.... it points to what our society wants to see and "likes." What is liked and goes viral is typically zany, spoofy, or happy things, certainly not sad topics or substantive messages.
Ideally I would love to tell them to hold the half time show, forget about each Super Bowl commercial and put the money spent on all this nonsense to something tangible that will benefit our communities. Of course, I realize I am in the minority!!! If you haven't seen the ad I am referring to, I posted an article about it below and the link to the ad itself.
The actual ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KqekigARfE&feature=player_embedded
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