Sunday, August 4, 2019

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken on August 8th of 2009. Three days after we learned of Mattie's terminal diagnosis. We were once again in shock, as only six weeks off of chemotherapy, Mattie's cancer spread to his lungs and liver. Mattie always wanted a large ride on vehicle. Of course pre-cancer, my answer was always NO. No because it was huge, we really did not have the space to store the vehicle, the toy was super expensive, and I wasn't sure how much use Mattie would get out of it. However, once cancer was in the picture, not to mention the fact that we knew Mattie was dying, we wanted to fulfill his wish. With my parent's help, we bought Mattie the vehicle. The photo you see here shows Peter taking Mattie out to the deck to surprise him with the gift. The gift that Mattie named later as "Speedy Red." 


Quote of the day: A sunflower field is like a sky with a thousand suns. ~ Corina Abdulahm-Negura

We came back from Boston and were greeted in our commons area with SUNFLOWERS! One of our neighbors loves the fact that we plant and brighten our neighborhood for others. So he took it upon himself in late spring to plant sunflower seeds. He told us about them and frankly I couldn't wait to see what happened, as I LOVE the sunflower. 

Our neighbor took a patch of dirt, that had nothing in it for years, and transformed it for all of us. I don't know how anyone could look at a sunflower and not want to smile. They are like big rays of sunshine.

Check out the bees! They are going to town with these flowers. 

A bed of sunflowers! I think what this illustrates is that YES one person can make a difference. His kind and nurturing gesture has provided a gift to all of us. Where this flower bed is located is truly impossible to care for, because there is NO water spigot nearby. This man fills up gallon sized bottles of water, puts them in a wheeled cart, takes them down the elevator and then outside to water these plants. Practically every other day! A real labor of love.   

The strength of the sunflower stalk is incredible and it has been fun to watch these flowers grow from seed into these beauties. Sunflowers remind me of Mattie and his care community, as I can't tell you how many sunflowers I received while Mattie was in treatment. Perhaps people gave them to me as a symbol of strength, since the flower's stem appears to be formidable and requires this kind of strength to grow out of the ground and then support a huge flower. By analogy, Peter and I had to dig deep within ourselves to find the courage needed to face the daily challenges and horrors of childhood cancer. 

A photo from 2009! A bunch of sunflowers that Team Mattie dropped off to me at our home. 

Sunny with Sunflowers! Seems to go together.