A Remembrance Video of Mattie

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to me that you take the time to write and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful and help support me through very challenging times. I am forever grateful. As my readers know, I promised to write the blog for a year after Mattie's death, which would mean that I could technically have stopped writing on September 9, 2010. However, like my journey with grief there is so much that still needs to be processed and fortunately I have a willing support network still committed to reading. Therefore, the blog continues on. If I should find the need to stop writing, I assure you I will give you advanced notice. In the mean time, thank you for reading, thank you for having the courage to share this journey with me, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki



July 17, 2016

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Sunday, July 17, 2016
Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2008. Literally about two weeks before Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. Doesn't he look like the picture of health here? That weekend we went to visit the DC Aquatic Gardens, to see the lotuses in bloom. An extraordinary sight and one we tried to do every summer with Mattie. Mattie loved the freedom and peacefulness of the gardens and he especially loved the fact that on every trip we always saw some form of wildlife.



Quote of the day: The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~ Hanna Rion
It was the lotus festival this weekend at the DC Aquatic Gardens. Which means that the Gardens were packed with people. However, if you visit these Gardens after the festival is over, the place returns back to its peaceful and tranquil self. Yet these flowers are stunning, so you can see why people show up even with humidity and over 90 degrees in the sun to see these beauties!
Literally there are fields and fields of lotuses. For as far as the eye can see. 
A close up of one of these beauties!
I find the life cycle of the lotus fascinating. It starts out with its bud looking like a shower head (on the left), then over time, it develops a flower bud (on the right), and of course once it opens up it looks like the photo above. 
The pink of a lotus against the beautiful blue sky. 
The Gardens are also filled with ponds that contain glorious water lilies. I am quite sure if Monet were alive, he would be inspired here. 
A light pink water lily
A white lily
I captured this as a remembrance of Mattie. Mattie loved the dragonflies, turtles, and lizards on our walks. 
Can you see the turtle? To me he blends in beautifully with the water lilies. 
Peter captured a photo of this lizard! It was the lizard's kind of weather day..... hot and sunny. Not sure Peter was as in love with it, but he has become a good sport over the years. I am like the lizard, the hotter it gets the better I operate.  
I am a big fan of canna lilies and the Gardens do a beautiful job with their flower beds. 
Posted by The Brown Family (DC) at 3:29 PM

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