Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2008. It is one of my favorite cancer related photos I took of Mattie. That day, one of my wonderful students came to visit. Susan is now my friend! Any case, Susan, introduced Mattie to an archeological dig. She brought this big block of clay with her, tools, and goggles. Mattie worked on digging through that block of clay for maybe two hours. He unearthed this plastic skeleton of a dinosaur. Once the process was over, Mattie was tired, but very proud of his accomplishment. This photo captures the emotion of that moment! I will never forget that day.
Quote of the day: Emotional pain is not something that should be hidden away and never spoken about. There is truth in your pain, there is growth in your pain, but only if it’s first brought out into the open. ~ Steven Aitchison
Though it was a holiday, my mom got up early. As soon as she starts moving and opening and closing doors, I am jolted awake. Of course, Indie doesn't like me sleeping past 7am either. Any case, I got up early and started my day. However, as the morning continued on, I literally felt sick to my stomach. I wasn't sure how to manage this feeling, but thankfully as quickly as the feeling came on, it dissipated. My parents were very tired today, so after breakfast, I encouraged them to rest in the family room for two hours.
I eventually took my parents to Dairy Queen for blizzards. Dairy Queen is a special place to me, because me and my other half would always visit one of their stores in North Carolina, during our beach vacations. I remember eating a blizzard one year in the car, while a massive rain, thunder, and lightning storm was all around us. Before going to the Outer Banks, NC, I never heard of Dairy Queen. Our vacations opened up a new world to me because I LOVE ice cream.
On Tuesday, we head to the hospital for my dad's follow up CT scan of his head. My dad suffered a brain bleed in December of 2025. He was hospitalized then and we have been working with a neurosurgery team for almost a year now. The team has my dad doing scans every three months. I am hoping this will be the last scan, because getting my dad on a CT scan table is like hell on earth.
Tomorrow also marks the 17th anniversary of Mattie's death. The hospital where I am taking my dad for his scan is the same hospital where Mattie was born and where his cancer was first diagnosed. In a way, it is like returning to a place of great significance to my life, a place that provided great happiness and also unbelievable sadness.
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