Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2008. This was Mattie's third month in his cancer treatment journey. By that time, all his psychosocial providers knew about his love for cardboard boxes and creating! His art therapists saved this big cardboard box for Mattie and over the entire month of October he worked on making a haunted house. Literally this box was decorated inside and out and had ghosts and witches and the inside was spooky! I am so grateful Mattie's hospital had an extensive art therapy program and I will never forget all the amazing women who helped Mattie have opportunities to be a child, NOT a child with cancer.
Quote of the day: Memory is the sense of loss, and loss pulls us after it. ~ Marilynne Robinson
This morning, I was listening to the radio while getting myself dressed to start the day. The radio hosts were interviewing a singer by the name of Priscilla Block. Literally it was what she was saying that made me pause. She mentioned that she wanted to write a song (Things you didn't see) that actually depicted her, her life, and her journey. I do not know this singer, but apparently she is known as a party girl. Yet like so many us, if you don't scratch the surface, you are never going to know the depths of our foundational core.
In the song she describes real struggles with her parents losing the family home, break ins to places she was living, dumpster diving to make a living, body image issues and the list goes on. Now clearly, if you did not know this about her, you would only see her successes. If you haven't heard the song, click on the image.
Getting to know all facets of the people in our lives is crucial. It gives us better insights and perspectives into how they think and feel about things as well as how they make certain decisions for themselves. I have always been fascinated by people and learning about their lives and experiences. Yet I know not everyone shares this interest.
Not everyone knows my story. Not everyone knows I lost a child to cancer, recently got divorced after a 35 year relationship, or that I am the full time caregiver to both of my parents. All of these experiences define me and how I live my life. I see the world through a lens of trauma and grief and frankly this can be lonely. It influences my ability to trust others, to want to spend time socializing, and having an inability to envision any sort of future. To me life is one big chore after the other, filled with bills, managing crises, and profound sadness.
I think what Priscilla Block's song reminds us is that there are things we DO NOT see/know in those around us. If we pause and remind ourselves of this, we may actually become more patient, compassionate, and understanding for those around us.
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