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

November 3, 2014

Monday, November 3, 2014

Monday, November 3, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2008. Mattie was with the "dynamic duo" here, or in other words Whitney and Lesley. They were both child life specialists at the Hospital, who Mattie related to very well. Despite Mattie's first limb salvaging surgery, he was up and about and playing with his remote control car. In fact he was giving his stuffed animal a ride. You may notice that Mattie's feet were wrapped up in bandages! Nothing were technically wrong with his feet, but nonetheless Mattie felt that his feet were bothering him. He kept telling us they were burning and he had all sorts of sensations in them. We concluded that this was a reaction from his chemotherapy and because we wanted to make sure Mattie knew we heard him and took him seriously we would wrap up his feet. Once his feet were wrapped up he tended to feel better. 


Quote of the day: That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day. Charles Dicken

Tonight's beautiful quote comes from Dicken's book, Great Expectations. Today was a memorable day for me. I met with my friend, Mary Ann. I drove out to Reston, VA to have lunch with her and to walk around the Lake near her home. A lake she has told me so much about and has shared photos with me. Mary Ann and I have known each other for many years, since we met in graduate school. In fact, we were counseling ethics buddies and when we took our ethics class at the University we were the most active students during the semester! It was a memorable moment for me back then when I met Mary Ann, because I found it mentally stimulating to find someone to dialogue ethical issues and scenarios with and from that class our friendship developed and only grew throughout time. That ethics class was our "first link" to today's "one memorable day."

The one thing that I have noticed in life is that having experienced a hardship, a loss, or a trauma does not mean that this will equate to human growth and development. Or that this will make a person more introspective, deeply reflective on life, or have more meaningful priorities. In fact, I have met people who seem completely unaltered, unfazed, and simply have not learned or gained any insight from what lesson life has set before them. I of course find this disappointing and troubling because I can't see how this is possible but maybe under other circumstances I would process Mattie's loss differently. I do not know, and I am not here to judge. But I do know when I sit with someone who is also deeply reflective, introspective, and knows how to emote, it is in essence a memorable day for me. Such as today. 



After Mary Ann and I had lunch together, we went for a walk around her lake. I have been to Reston before, but never seen this particular lake. Part of me felt transported to another location! There are times I felt like I was in Florida and at other times in a New England village. The views were simply stunning and so peaceful. I can see why Mary Ann loves it. Walking with Mary Ann wasn't power walking like it would be in the city. We walked but then sat, chatted and looked at the views. It was deeply peaceful and tranquil. 


Today was about connecting as friends, sharing stories, and being a part of nature. It was a surreal experience and it wasn't as if we set out and planned this. It just happened and unfolded. 
We journeyed from one lovely spot to another! As I looked at these homes, all I could think of is what a different view I have from my home and I do not live that far away from here!!!








Mary Ann sent me a photo of these roses in June, in honor of my dear friend Margaret's death! Margaret LOVED roses! Today I got to see these roses for myself. 










Mary Ann and I also visited a pet store and we got to see three beautiful kitties in need of a home. Two I would have brought home immediately but without Peter, I did not want to make this decision independently. Mary Ann and I both share a love of cats and there was a lovely calico cat also in need of a home. I of course thought about Patches immediately, though "Sally" did not look like our Patches at all. We then went to sit by this side of the lake. To me this side looked very New England!


Overlooking the lake was this home with a line up of pumpkins which caught my attention! Mattie would have appreciated this!











The beauty of the lake was incredible, and I loved how the trees were reflected into the water. The colors of fall are glorious. 










Now this was a first for me but Mary Ann tells me this is popular in Reston. To me this look like a deck boat! Basically it is a floating deck with a motor!










Check this deck boat out! Basically a party was going on here with a dog included! Torch lamps and a BBQ!











Stunning no?!















When I got home, I was greeted by candy photos on my phone! My friend Heidi has been busy collecting candy in her neighborhood for our Foundation Candy Drive! Collecting and Sorting!!! Heidi has been helping us for the past several years and has sorting down to a science. 




This is Leslie and Faye's total collection from their "mitzvah" day yesterday! They are still collecting more candy but considering this was just a thirty minute time period in which the collection occurred, this is down right impressive! 











I want to thank Beth Parker at Fox 5 News for reaching out to Mattie Miracle and for always promoting the work that we do. She alerted her colleagues at Fox 5 about our drive, as you can see in the attached link that went out today!!! Beth and her neighbors are also donating to our drive. As always we are grateful to Beth for her fine work with us and for her outstanding coverage of human interest stories in the DC area!!!

Donate your candy to a good cause:

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/27258306/donate-halloween-candy-to-a-good-cause

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