Day 2
I have so many vivid memories of Matthew, from the day of his birth until the day of his death. For some reason, lately, memories from his primary school days have often been on my mind. Here are a few:
1. When Matt was in kindergarten, he would get home from school and immediately take me by the hand and drag me into the living room onto our impractical cotton floral comfy couch so he could practice his reading skills. It didn’t matter if I was in the kitchen preparing dinner or helping one of his siblings with the issue of the day, everything needed to stop to practice reading. Talk about persistence. I enjoyed that time, and I love those memories. I sure do wish I could go back to those days of Matthew snuggled up next to me reading the Frog and Toad book.
2. Matt almost always listened, to his teachers, his coaches, and most in authority, yet he was never afraid to stand up for what he thought was an injustice. One time when he was a first grader, in what was a typical day at lunch, the lunch lady turned off the lights, which meant the students were supposed to eat their lunch in silence. This particular day, one of the boys at a table next to Matthew’s must not have realized the lights were off and got caught continuing to talk during the “silent period”. He just received a brand-new watch for his birthday. The lunch lady came over and yelled at the boy, took his watch, and made him cry. Matthew didn’t think it was right that the normally quiet boy got singled out, especially when there were girls at another table who were giggling, so he decided to try to help the boy out. Matt stood up, and said, “Mrs. Xxxx, he wasn’t the only person in the lunchroom talking, and I don’t think it was very nice of you to take his watch away.” At this young age, Matthew was already searching for justice and the truth, which he continued to search throughout his life.
3. Those who knew Matthew well, knew he had quite a sense of humor. There were a few times in primary school in which he did things that, as a mother, I felt a bit embarrassed. I am sure he sometimes left his teachers wondering what was going on in our household. One of those times was at an end-of-the-year authors’ tea, and Matt’s name was picked out of a hat to read one of the books he had written while in second grade. Matt had written lots of beautiful books that year—about animals, about friendship, about his family, but the one he chose to read to the entire school community of students and parents was a fictional funny story about his 2nd grade teacher. I kept that book which Matthew had written because some day I hoped to share it with his children, so I could make Matt blush the way he did me that night.
To start my #12 challenge commitment on day #1, this is what I did:
1. I rode on the Peloton bike for 12.37 miles today. I knew 12 miles was going to be a stretch for me in the 45-minute Beatles-themed class, but I was able to achieve that, plus a little bit more.
2. I donated to the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, in memory of Matthew, his Uncle Ed Carney and his grandfather, Joseph Hertlein. These men were avid readers, and his uncle and grandpa shared their genuine love of nature and learning with Matthew.
3. For my random act of kindness, I dropped off a note and an Amazon gift card to a teacher at the primary school where Matthew attended. His favorite teachers have retired, so I gave the gift card to a relatively new teacher.
I guess I am not doing the #12 challenge correctly. It wasn’t until I had published my blog entry #1 when I was informed that I was supposed to be creative with some type of physical exercise, and not all these extra things. Sorry if this is too much. The important thing we have to remember is that we have to get this mental health challenge started---and honestly, it should start with our very young people. Perhaps we should consider a strong wellness and mental health curriculum started in the primary school years.