Saturday, December 18, 2021

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008. Mattie was recovering from his surgeries but was back in the hospital for his next round of treatment. As you can see Mattie had trouble putting on clothes, so I literally draped his pajamas around him. That day, Whitney and Lesley, Child Life Interns, came into Mattie's room to help brighten his mood. These are extraordinary women, who are compassionate, have positive energy, and Mattie really related to them. They brought with them a tray and a bunch of creative materials for Mattie to play with, and no matter how badly Mattie felt, we usually could engage him in some sort of activity. 

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

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 50,754,052
• Number of people who died from the virus: 806,211

After I got my dad up, washed, and dressed, we all had breakfast together. Then I proceeded to help my dad with his cognitive, physical and occupational exercises. Once all these things were completed, my dad was wiped out! I mean truly done for the morning. He goes to his recliner and typically rests or sleeps for several hours. This is how our mornings are MOST days.

While he is resting, we are working! There were ten big wardrobe boxes in my parent's room. We unpacked each of these boxes today! It felt like a feat. To my surprise the movers packed lamps within the clothes. It is incredible that the lamps did not break! 

The unpacked closet!

Later in the day, we drove to Alexandria to visit Mattie's memorial trees. We decorated them for Christmas. This is Mattie's official memorial tree. Those of you following the story, this is the fourth tree that was planted at Mattie's school, as the other three had issues! This is a white swamp oak that produces the most charming acorns in the fall. 

A close up of some of the ornaments. 

This is memorial tree number 3. We decorate it too. This is a yellow wood tree that was struck during a terrible storm and the tree literally split down the middle. It has made a good recovery. Any case, our joke is that Mattie has a memorial grove at his school. 

These trees are important to us and give us a venue to acknowledge and celebrate Mattie's life. After all, Mattie's ashes are not in a cemetery. They are home with us. This was our choosing, and the beauty of a tree is it provides joy, shade, and protection to countless children on the playground...... a place Mattie used to love to play in. 

We went out for an early dinner to Mattie's favorite restaurant. This is a restaurant my family has been going to together since 2005! So a long time. In fact, after each Foundation Walk, my family has dinner at this restaurant. I am telling you this because it is a known quantity. In any case, my dad HAS NO MEMORY of this restaurant at all! His decline has been rapid since I saw him in April 2021. Typically with dementia one holds onto long term memories better than short term ones. In my dad's case, this isn't true at all. He is so forgetful that he can't remember where he is in the house, how to get to the bathroom, and the line that truly brings me a chuckle is....... where did all this furniture and stuff come from? Where did the movers get it from?! We remind him the answer is..... YOUR HOUSE IN LOS ANGELES!