Saturday, August 12, 2017

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken on August 7, 2008. Recently I showed on the blog a photo of Mattie working with Linda (his child life specialist) on a painting in the middle of the PICU hallway. Linda lined the floor with paper and Mattie and his buddies got to create whatever they wanted. This was the finished product. Can you guess what part of this creation Mattie worked on? If you guessed the SUN you would be correct. From the time that Mattie could draw, he always included a sun in all of his works. Which maybe one of the reasons, I consider it a Mattie symbol, and it became the symbol of the Foundation. Of course in Mattie's painting, the sun has MANY rays shining out from it. Whereas the Foundation logo's sun has ONLY seven beams! Why? Because each beam/ray symbolizes one of the years Mattie was alive. Since Mattie died at age seven, I wanted this integrated within our logo. 


Quote of the day: Memories are like a garden. Regularly tend the pleasant blossoms and remove the invasive weeds. ~ Linda Fifer Ralphs

I spent some time in our garden today. Cleaning up weeds, dead plants, and planting a couple of new things to replace the things that died out. Keeping this garden going throughout our intense heat and humidity isn't easy. Especially when we go away. Thankfully I have found a reliable fellow in our complex who takes care of our green fellows when we are not around. 

I snapped all these photos from Mattie's bedroom window. Which is now where my desk is located. I have a lovely corner desk by the window and can look outside at all times of the year. I think Mattie loved this space, as I can vividly remember him standing on his bed and looking out the window! 

Our garden is filled with butterfly and sun signs and symbols. I will have to take some specific photos of these lovely items to share on the blog. 

If you look closely, in the middle of the plants is one of Mattie's fountains. You can probably see the splashing spray of the water. In July of 2008, right before Mattie was diagnosed with cancer, he wanted to surprise me for my birthday by making handmade fountains with Peter. Peter and Mattie worked on two fountains for weeks. I knew they were doing something outside, but I had no idea what they were actually doing. When they weren't working on the fountains, they covered them and told me not to look until they were finished. Which I honored. 

Mattie's fountains are still running even today. They are dormant from October until Mother's Day. On Mother's Day, Peter always cleans them out and starts them for another warm weather season. Of course, we can't look or hear them without thinking of Mattie and the sentiment behind why they were created.