Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 --- Mattie died 817 weeks ago today. 

Tonight's picture was taken on October 31, 2008. Mattie celebrated Halloween both in the hospital at with his preschool buddy, Zachary. Mattie thoughtfully chose this mummy costume. A non-profit donated costumes to the hospital for children to celebrate Halloween. Mattie had a private showing of the costumes, which I appreciated. Because Mattie's right arm was casted and bandaged from a limb salvaging surgery and he was very self conscious about it. When Mattie saw the mummy costume, his eye lit up! The reason of course was the costume hid the fact that his arm was casted. We had a wonderful time trick or treating through the administrative offices at the hospital, decorating pumpkins, and having all sorts of treats! It was an afternoon I will never forget. 

Quote of the day: Memories have huge staying power, but like dreams, they thrive in the dark, surviving for decades in the deep waters of our minds like shipwrecks on the sea bed. ~ J. G. Ballard

Check this out!!!! It is a Lego MRI Scanner set! Thank you Jean for sending me the below article. 

Wow, we could have used this Lego kit when Mattie had cancer. I always said Legos were therapeutic! They got us through some very difficult days in the hospital. But now Legos has created a MRI model that child life specialists model which is being used to help normalize this scary machine for pediatric patients. What an amazing idea. These kits are NOT for sale, but instead, Legos donates them to hospitals. I LOVED THAT IDEA!

These kits have been shown to reduce children's anxiety and it has been found that 46% of healthcare providers reported needing to use less sedation during a MRI after the children played with the set. The article is touching, because it focuses upon a 14-year-old child with cancer who was committed to building this intricate model. Not for himself, but to help the other children in treatment at his hospital. What this article reports, I saw first hand in the hospital. Kids would help one another, bond with each other, and share fears in ways they just couldn't do with their parents! The spirit of a child just can not be broken, even with cancer. 

I encourage you to check out the story, How Lego MRI scanner sets are reducing anxiety in children undergoing medical treatment. In fact, I sent this article to our child life specialist and she told me she is familiar with this kit and that it works beautifully at helping to educate children about the frightening MRI process, thereby making the actual MRI more manageable. 

This afternoon, after taking my parents out for frozen yogurt, I came home and worked outside. It was 70 degrees in October, and I figured I needed to celebrate the warmth. 

In 2021, my former mother-in-law sent us a pumpkin inflatable. I have put out her pumpkin for four years! This weekend, her pumpkin stopped inflating. So to keep the tradition going, I bought this one. 

What is charming about this one is the cat pops in and out of the pumpkin, on its own.

She even lights up at night!

As of tonight, I have brought every plant of mine that gets wintered inside, in the house! It was a big labor, but it is done! The transition inside is always hard, but when they adjust, I just love seeing greenery during the cold and dark days ahead.