Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2008. It is hard to believe that this photo was taken 6 months prior to Mattie being diagnosed with cancer. As to me, he looked like the picture of health. This was what weekends used to look like for us, as we always took Mattie out regardless of the weather to walk and explore. I learned from an early age with Mattie, that he loved fresh air and open surroundings. He responded better to them!
Quote of the day: If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. ~ James O’Barr
Anthony visited Margy today at Fairfax Inova and I guess they got to talking. Anthony told her that he visits Georgetown too. So of course Margy asked Anthony if he knew Mattie. Not only did Anthony know Mattie, but he remembered him VERY well. In fact, Anthony told Margy that he was impressed with Mattie. As Mattie welcomed a new patient one day into their music circle. Anthony told Margy that despite whatever intense pain Mattie was in, he was always nice to fellow patients. Which to me is a lovely memory as Anthony has a different lens than me and I am happy Mattie was perceived this way. Anthony is another memory keeper of Mattie's and I was touched to hear this story.
Given Mattie's love for music and self expression, I knew ALL the Studio G volunteers who came to the hospital.... this entailed musician, artists, poets, you name it! Mattie could have been in the worst of moods, but if he knew Sally the Story Lady was coming to the floor for example, he energized for her visits. I will never forget Sally, Jude (the man with the guitar) or Anthony (the man with the violin).
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