Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2004. Mattie was almost two years old. Peter captured this moment with a photo. I would call it..... tender moments with Mattie. For the most part, Mattie was constantly on the go and busy. He was not big into cuddly and hugging time. Yet, there were moments, in which he would spontaneously want your attention. This was one of those moments.
Quote of the day: Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. ~ Vincent Van Gogh
However, this year, we learned that Kristen could no longer work with us. She is balancing too much in her job, that she felt she couldn't devote the time to our projects. I can't tell you what a loss this has been for me. Why? Because Kristen wasn't just like any graphic artist. She was an artist that understood what our mission was about and was able to translate my thoughts into art. She was so good, that all I had to do was give her some input and my ideas and she would run with it, and create visual masterpieces.
Naturally I had to find another graphic artist this year. Thankfully we work with a company who supplies our t-shirts and does some of our other printing jobs. So I wrote to them to see if they would be willing to do our graphic design. They agreed! However, with any transition, comes a period of adjustment. Thankfully I have started this t-shirt logo design project NOW, because I told them I wanted the t-shirt designed by the end of March, so we can go into actual printing in April. This enables us not to scramble with 400+ t-shirts a week before the Walk. Since it takes time to sort, fold, and stage shirts for the event.
Any case, I am happy to report that the front design for the t-shirt is now done, and we are working on the back of the shirt. We literally have 17 corporate sponsors so far this year, and we would like to feature all of them on the shirt this year. So this is a work in progress!
Now onto an interaction I had today. I went out to lunch today with a friend. While eating, a woman came up to our table, because she recognized my friend and wanted to say hello. Both women (fellow moms whose children go to the same high school) instantly went into college talk..... how is yours doing, where is he/she going to go to college? While bantering, they spoke about a website called grown and flown. Basically an on line resource for parents whose children are growing up and are going to fly the coup and head to college. Mainly I imagine the site is to help parents with this adjustment.
Naturally I listened to this and had all sorts of emotions internally. But then the woman standing next to me asked me about my children! If I weren't with my friend, I most likely would have told her off because she seemed like a clueless wonder who needed a reality check STAT! Instead, my friend stepped in and told her I am the co-founder of Mattie Miracle. Not sure that meant anything to this woman, because her response was..... how nice! How nice indeed!!!
I have to admit that it is quite normal to ask other women about their children, and I know it would never have dawned on me that children die from cancer every day. Unless I experienced it personally. I don't necessarily hold that against her. But what I do know, is this conversation once again reminded me that I am different. Mattie's cancer has affected how I view everything about the world, and unfortunately in the process it can make me judgmental. In the sense that I would like people to be more clued into child loss. That not everyone is lucky enough to say they have a FLOWN and GROWN child problem. I have to imagine that given the alternative, people would opt for a flown and grown problem, than my own. If I have to be sensitive, open, and understanding of someone's flown and grown problem, why can't someone provide me with the same courtesy? This is a rhetorical question, but one that often floats around in my head.
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