Friday, October 31, 2025

Friday, October 31, 2025

Tonight's picture was taken on Halloween of 2008. Our last Halloween with Mattie. Pictured with Mattie is Zachary, Mattie's best preschool friend. These two boys were inseparable in preschool, starting on Day 1 of school! Halloween 2008, Mattie did trick or treating in the hospital by day, and continued the fun in the evening with Zachary. I will never forget this evening, because it was on that night that I learned what true friendship looks like! Mattie and Zachary went trick or treating with a few of Zachary's neighbors. Clearly they were all active and able bodied fellows. But Mattie just had his first limb salvaging surgery and he was anxious and fearful about injuring his right arm which was casted. So Mattie moved slower. He did not want to run from door to door. The other children in the group were encouraging Zachary to ditch Mattie, so that they could move faster and collect more candy. After all they were 6! It would have been understandable if Zachary wanted to stay with the group! But that was NOT what happened. Zachary told the others to go ahead, because he was staying with his friend, Mattie. I will never forget that beautiful decision. As Mattie was already feeling different, and losing his friend Zachary that night would have been traumatic. Once the boys finished trick or treating, we went back to Zachary's house and Mattie began sorting candy! A favorite past time of his, mainly because Mattie did not like candy! But he enjoyed categorizing and sorting, not to mention trading his chocolate candies for lollipops. 

Quote of the day: The past is always with you, whether you choose to think about it or not, whether you take responsibility for it or not. You carry the past with you because it transforms you. You can try to bury it and pretend it never happened, but that doesn’t work. ~ Jennifer Hillier

I woke up this morning and received this adorable Halloween video from my friend, Phyllis, in California. I don't know about you, but I thought it was adorable. May we all age with grace and never lose wit and a sense of humor! 

I remember Halloween of 2024, as if it were yesterday. Why? Because it was on that day that I learned I was officially divorced. Seems fitting, to get divorced on Halloween, doesn't it? I was in such a state that I wasn't sure how I was going to make it to the day. But it was a warm 70 degree Halloween evening. So in 2024, I had the front door open, brought a chair over for my mom to sit, and she and I greeted every trick or treater! I met some of the nicest kids and those interactions helped me in two ways.... first it helped to take my mind off of deep emotional pain, and second, going through the motions enabled me to see that I wasn't going to collapse or drown in a pool of tears like Alice in Wonderland. 

Today, was more of the same! Busy! The contractors were back and as of tonight, the dining room ceiling is fully repaired and painted. One room down. Progress is being made in the bathroom, and the good news is this will be finished next week. Which is great, because I do not think I can keep this pace up, with my 6am morning starts!

After I dropped my dad off at his memory care center this morning, I went grocery shopping. As I entered the store, Eric Carmen's 1976 song, Never Gonna Fall in Love Again, was playing. If you have no idea what I am talking about, listen to it for yourself......................

On an aside, it is NOT unusual for stores and restaurants to play songs from the 1970s and 1980s! It is no surprise to me, as these decades produced some of the best music to sing and to dance to. But hearing these songs transport me back in time. The power of music. Back to happier times actually, when I truly did not understand the real meaning and pain associated with this song. In the 70s and 80s, I was a happier person, who thought I had a wonderful future ahead of me. So as I walked into the grocery store today and heard this song, my initial reaction was happiness to hear a 70s song, but then I started listening to the lyrics. I do not believe in coincidences. I was meant to hear this song today, because on the one year anniversary of my divorce, it captures the feelings within my heart.