Thursday, August 19, 2021

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken on August 11, 2008. It was Mattie's first week in the hospital. Next to him were his two art therapists. Two amazing women, who played a key role in Mattie's cancer journey. They figured out right away that Mattie loved to create, it took his mind off of how he was feeling, and as his journey went on, through art, we learned a lot about how Mattie was doing emotionally. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins. 

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 37,281,516
• Number of people who died from the virus: 625,109

At the end of July in my email inbox, I saw an opportunity to Take The Plunge. A competition with monetary grants. That intrigued me. The first requirement was that Mattie Miracle had to be part of the Thrivent network, which we are, since several of their employees contribute, through their company, to the Foundation. I decided I had nothing to lose, so I completed the application. I thought hard about it as I have been trying to get initial funding to start a psychosocial referral and resource program, specifically to match families coping with childhood cancer to local therapists in the community, and pay for up to 6 therapeutic sessions. The reason this is so crucial is: 1) it is hard to find therapists with experience working with families managing a childhood cancer diagnosis, and 2) even if families find the right therapist (which is a royal challenge), then funding becomes an issue. As the cost of cancer care is astronomical, many families forgo getting the psychosocial support they need. I can't tell you how many people write to me from all over the country looking both for a connection to a qualified therapist and then funding for psychological treatment. Here is information I received in my email:

Take The Plunge : Can You Swim With The Sharks?

September 09 2021, 8:00 pm

Online Event

Join me and the Thrivent Member Network and Groundbreaking Entrepreneurial Expert, Shark and New York Times Bestselling Author, Daymond John as we host Take The Plunge : Can You Swim With The Sharks?

During this live interactive event, five local nonprofit organizations will take the plunge to earn your vote for funding for their nonprofit. You will have the opportunity to learn about how these organizations are impacting their communities and help the Thrivent Member Network award more than $25,000 in community grants!

----------------------

I really figured we did not qualify to compete! But then out of the blue I received this email today.............

Congratulations! Your Non-Profit Organization Has Been Selected! All applications have been reviewed by our Regional Board Members and a vote has been conducted and five non-profit organizations have been selected to participate in the September 9 Live Event. Congratulations your Non-Profit has been selected as one of the five featured Non-Profit Organizations.

I learned that the 5 non-profits selected are: 2 in Ohio, 2 in Pennsylvania, and Mattie Miracle in Northern Virginia!

So now I will have to give some thought to our live web presentation! A presentation that the world wide web gets to vote on (September 9th at 8pm EDT). Apparently it is a popularity contest, with the non-profit getting the most audience votes wins. Therefore, starting in September, Mattie Miracle will have to start promoting this event on all our social media channels to try to get supporters and friends to tune in and vote! 

It was another day of cleaning out! By the end of each day, I am wiped out. This compilation is from our wedding. The bride and groom statue was actually our cake topper. We have nick named the bride, "lefty." She got that name because right before the wedding, her left hand fell off. We literally glued her back together again before she went on the cake! Now many years later, lefty still lives up to her name. 

The bell with a ribbon around it was the gift my in-laws gave to guests at our rehearsal dinner, and the lady with the cup over her head was given to me by Peter's parents. Apparently she is a traditional German wedding cup, in which you make a toast.

These clay hands were all made by Mattie in the oncology outpatient clinic. 

When Mattie was diagnosed with cancer, his kindergarten class united to buy him an iPod. It is engraved and it says "KW loves Mattie." KW was the abbreviation of Mattie's kindergarten classroom. 

In the kitchen, I had a Mattie closet. It was low to the ground and on his level. He loved having his own closet to put things in. I honestly forgot I stored his Scooby Doo lunchbox, silverware, and cups in that closet. Cleaning out has been quite a trip down memory lane. 

In the oncology clinic Mattie made many clay sculptures. This one he entitled, "an outdoor movie." Mind you he never went to one! When I grabbed a hold of it today, it shattered in multiple pieces. I glued it back together naturally. 

Some other sculptures and his special NYC yellow Lego taxi that he built with two Lego masters. 

This print of Mattie's right hand was taken the day before he died. 

What's with the steering wheel? It belonged to the famous Speedy Red. The ride on vehicle that we bought Mattie after we learned about his terminal diagnosis. Mattie loved every minute on Speedy Red, even if he road it with oxygen and a pain pump. 

In addition, you see Mattie's model magic roach and a little R2D2. R2D2 was given to Mattie by his lung surgeon, a lovely person, who continues to this day to contribute to Mattie Miracle. 

This was Mattie's very first camera! He loved taking photos and when we were in the hospital, he used my camera many times to snap photos of things. Some of the things he captured were a riot. 

In the 26 years we have lived here, we have never seen such a sight! Today in the oak tree outside our window was a sleeping raccoon. Ironically Sunny was hovering by the window and on guard all day. I had no idea why, until we later saw the raccoon.