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

October 14, 2014

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Tuesday, October 14, 2014 -- Mattie died 266 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2006. Mattie was standing in front of a corn maze at one of the fall festivals we took him to. What I love about this photo was Mattie's expression. His facial expression reminds me of a sunflower turning toward the sun! He was beaming with a smile, just enjoying the moment and in turn so did we. 


Quote of the day: However many years she lived, Mary always felt that 'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow.' ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett


Burnett's book, The Secret Garden, has always been magical to me. I think depending upon what age you read this book, you probably take different joys and meanings from it! As a child, you most certainly take sheer delight in the imagery of the restoration of the garden and the fact that there is a secret that the children are keeping from the adults. As an adult reader however, the beauty of the garden is probably a bit more complex. What the garden may symbolize is a chance at life, at a renewal of spirit, at a re-connection with another human being and the development of a friendship, and the chance to find new meaning perhaps in your life when everything else around you may seem confusing or dead. 

I had the opportunity to spend a good portion of my day away from the computer, which was quite special. I took all the work I had to process through to our local cafe and sat there for hours. In fact, at lunch time, Peter came over from work and had lunch with me. Which was a highlight. That is how long I was sitting in one place. After I had lunch, I migrated back home and to my dismay, I found that in my own secret garden one of our rose bushes had blown over and it and its dirt was all over the place. At first I was quite upset. But in a way it turned out to be a blessing. I spent over an hour outside with ALL my plants. I wouldn't have done that today if the bush hadn't blown over. What I noticed was spending time outside made me feel better. Which of course is no surprise and it is why I detest the change in season that is approaching SO MUCH! Today the humidity was back and though others were most likely not happy around me, I was thrilled and so were my plants, who seem to thrive in the heat! 

I have found that being ill for the past several weeks and under intense stress has caused me to try to re-evaluate what I am pushing myself to do this week. Needless to say my green friends were the perfect calling for me today after spending several days again by the computer.

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