Mattie Miracle Walk 2023 was a $131,249 success!

Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation Promotional Video

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to us that you take the time to write to us and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful to us and help support us through very challenging times. To you we are forever grateful. As my readers know, I promised to write the blog for a year after Mattie's death, which would mean that I could technically stop writing on September 9, 2010. However, at the moment, I feel like our journey with grief still needs to be processed and fortunately I have a willing support network still committed to reading. Therefore, the blog continues on. If I should find the need to stop writing, I assure you I will give you advanced notice. In the mean time, thank you for reading, thank you for having the courage to share this journey with us, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki and Peter



The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation celebrates its 7th anniversary!

The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation was created in the honor of Mattie.

We are a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. We are dedicated to increasing childhood cancer awareness, education, advocacy, research and psychosocial support services to children, their families and medical personnel. Children and their families will be supported throughout the cancer treatment journey, to ensure access to quality psychosocial and mental health care, and to enable children to cope with cancer so they can lead happy and productive lives. Please visit the website at: www.mattiemiracle.com and take some time to explore the site.

We have only gotten this far because of people like yourself, who have supported us through thick and thin. So thank you for your continued support and caring, and remember:

.... Let's Make the Miracle Happen and Stomp Out Childhood Cancer!

A Remembrance Video of Mattie

February 15, 2014

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in February 2009. Mattie was home between hospital stays and what kept us all grounded and focused were Legos. They were therapeutic for all of us. They had a way of transporting us away from cancer, chemotherapy, surgeries, and psychological pain. Even when it was too difficult for us to talk with one another, we connected through building. The structure next to Mattie was something that he and Peter built together. That year while battling cancer, we must have bought every single Lego kit on the market. Our home had thousands upon thousands of Lego bricks everywhere. 


Quote of the day: Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age. ~ Anais Nin


Though we have been in meetings basically ALL day since Thursday, I did want to pause to show you some of the wonderful sights we have captured along the way. Each morning we have had a glorious sunrise over the Bay. We are certainly grateful we are in Florida and NOT in DC, contending with snow and unpleasant weather. But I do have to give this caveat.... Tampa is NOT like Southern Florida. It is windy and quite chilly for the most part. Of course in comparison to DC, this is relative, but it also isn't what most of us think of, when we reflect on Florida.


Check out this glorious photo of Mattie Moon that Peter captured! In a way, I think this is very symbolic of Mattie watching out and after both of us during the conference.







From our hotel window, we can see the arrival and departure of cruise ships daily. I am enamored by large ships, and I love to watch them traverse the water. Maybe because they are so HUGE, and seem defy logic and reasoning in their ability to move that they capture my imagination. This was a morning arrival of a Carnival ship.



This afternoon, when we got back to our room, we went out on the balcony and watched "Brilliance of the Sea" depart from port. It was a wonderful sight!










Peter snapped a photo of me at our exhibit booth today! I may NEVER get out of ALL my sweaters. I literally wore two very heavy wool sweaters during all conference days, mostly because it is chilly out and inside it is AIR CONDITIONED! A wonderful feeling for a person who is already NOT feeling well. I have to say that our exhibit table may have been one of the most colorful ones. To the conference, I shipped over 80 recyclable Mattie Miracle bags, microfiber clothes, brochures, business cards, and about 10 pounds of candy to give away. I know that the LARGE draw to any conference table is the CANDY. This year I made a special effort to get popular candy bars! It was a huge hit. I had people throughout the conference tell me they stopped by our table for a sugar pick me up treat, and that we had the best candy! 

While at the booth today, I had the opportunity to chat with many visitors. One woman was a cancer survivor and shared her story of courage with us. Yet she said that when she looked at Mattie's picture, she wasn't sure why she survived and Mattie didn't. I could see she was grappling with that question and also knowing what she endured and survived, she wasn't sure how we survived and are still surviving the loss of our Mattie! 

Also while at the booth, one of our psychosocial think tank professionals came up to chat with Peter and I. She had been reflecting on the think tank and also all her interactions with us. What I found so special about her comments was that she observed every attention to detail that we put into our events, marketing material, booth set up, meals we provide our team, and so forth. This made me feel very good, because what she was saying is 100% accurate!!! Details are important to me, and what image we project represents all aspects of Mattie Miracle. Though in comparison to other cancer groups, we are small, I don't want small to equate to unprofessional or ineffective. So her positive feedback made me see an outsider's perspective.  

Peter and I attended more sessions today and literally after about almost 24 hours of training since Thursday, we are mentally wiped out. We heard about cutting edge psychological research with childhood cancer and trends for distress screening of children and families. It has been a lot to absorb and take into account and of course we approach all data and research outcomes with Mattie and our situation in mind. As I say to psychosocial professionals all the time..... they may work with hundreds of families over the course of decades, but that still doesn't give them the insight of having the lived experience. I am always amazed when I hear about certain interventions or the way particular studies were designed. I am amazed because I can already tell you whether this will work or not work, why? This isn't unique to me, but most likely would apply to any parent. Simply because we lived it and we know the challenges with timing, the issues associated with intense caregiving, and also living within a hospital setting. What these research studies have verified for me however is NOT all childhood cancer experiences are the same. Based on the type of cancer, the nature and intensity of treatment will differ. This makes a huge difference in the psychosocial impact. Certainly I know this intuitively since most of the families I came across in the hospital did not deal with multiple limb salvaging surgeries, a sternotomy, and a host of other issues associated with osteosarcoma.

As I write this, the think tank and the conference are now complete. Did we accomplish what we set out to do? Most definitely! But my greatest hope is one day I will find some big donors and corporations who will stand behind our work and support the efforts we have the vision to accomplish. It isn't a matter of will it happen, it is a matter of when! Nothing has been handed to Mattie Miracle, it has instead been born out of hard work, focus, determination, and the ability to make connections with the right professionals. 

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