Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2008. This was Mattie's third month on chemotherapy and his taste for food had changed dramatically. Some days Mattie wouldn't want food at all and other days he had certain cravings. We went with whatever he presented us. There was a time when he went through a pasta and tomato sauce phase, and as you can see we made sure he got what he requested. I recall one morning, Peter left the hospital at 3am, searching high and low for pasta! It was a moment of stress neither of us will forget, but when your child is feeling miserable and you are dealing with life and death decisions, the only control we did have was mobilizing and getting food!
Quote of the day: Words are like nets - we hope they'll cover what we mean, but we know they can't possibly hold that much joy, or grief, or wonder. ~ Jodi Picoult
This morning I woke up at 6am, on my own! I assure you just two years ago, this never would have happened! I have never been a morning person. But now being programmed to get up early for my parents, it becomes a more natural occurrence. When I arose, I was freezing. I tried to turn up the heat, but I couldn't get the thermostat to work. Given that my parents run COLD all the time, I knew this had to be corrected immediately. Peter tried to diagnose the problem too, but there clearly was a problem. Thankfully we have a service contract with a great outfit that takes care of our heat, electrical, plumbing, and AC. So I called them this morning and by 3pm today, a technician was over to provide support.
The technician was a competent person. I love people like this! Don't you know before he left today, I asked him for his cell phone number. It is important to me to have direct access to all our service providers because the house is a large responsibility and caring for my parents, makes it vital that heat, water, and electrical are working! Before the technician left, he commented about his conversation with Peter and that he was impressed with Peter's career history. After which, he asked me if I worked!? Now that is a loaded question!!! I explained that right now I am caring full time for my parents, but that I also run a Foundation. I did not explain more. Most people would have dismissed what I was saying, because nothing about my words were glamorous. However, his response was the exact oppositive of what I was expecting. He basically said, caring for people is the HARDEST job there is! I couldn't have said it better!!! Since I work day in and day out without much praise or kind words, his comment today meant a lot to me.
When too little is known and too much is feared, we turn to books. In the spirit of providing much-needed solace comes Henry & the White Wolf, an illustrated storybook-and poignant allegory--to help kids who are sick, or kids with friends who are sick, or kids whose parents or siblings or teachers are sick.What makes the simple, straightforward story especially comforting and so close to a child's point of view is that it is written and illustrated by a teenage brother and sister who draw not only on their own feelings of being in the hospital, but the experience of offering support to close friends with serious illnesses. It is this spirit that inspired the authors to package with the book a soft, round stone for every child to hold-just like the talismanic stone in the story that Henry, the little sick hedgehog, must hold onto while undergoing the debilitating treatment offered up by the fearsome White Wolf. No matter how bad it gets, Henry clutches his stone for dear life-literally-and it reminds him that the dignity and courage he needs to get better are always with him.
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