Proud of my work -- 16 Years of Service

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to me that you take the time to write and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful and help support me through very challenging times. I am 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 have stopped writing on September 9, 2010. However, like my journey with grief there is so much that 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 me, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


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



A Remembrance Video of Mattie

August 15, 2015

Saturday, August 15, 2015


Saturday, August 15, 2015

 Tonight's video was taken in August of 2009. By this point we knew that Mattie's cancer was terminal. Because Mattie's cancer journey was so aggressive and he never had a period of remission, we were never able to fill out an application with the Make a Wish Foundation. Mattie had many wishes while he was battling cancer, but we couldn't fill them because he was always in treatment. As he came to the end of his journey, Linda (Mattie's child life specialist) contacted the Lego store at our local mall and arranged for Mattie to meet and work with two Lego master builders. The special part about this was the store was closed to other customers. Only Mattie and his friend, Abbie were in the store.. Mattie had the whole store to himself, and that was very special. The master builders gave Mattie the chance to build ANY THING he wanted in the entire store. He could have picked a Lego kit, but that was NOT what he selected. Mainly because that year we practically went through EVERY kit in the store. It was our form of therapy while in the hospital. So Mattie wanted to do something different. It was his idea to design from the ground up a NYC taxi cab. I am sure that came to his mind since he rode in several of them while undergoing experimental treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering on several occasions. The master builders helped Mattie with the design and this little video clip was humorous, because Mattie did not want the rest of us who were observing to know his plans. Which was why he started whispering and also asked the master builders to whisper. He wanted the final taxi to be a surprise. This taxi is still on display in our living room. 

Quote of the day: The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself–the invisible battles inside all of us–that’s where it’s at. ~ Jesse Owens


Peter and I spent the majority of the day outside tending to our garden. A week a way from it required a lot of tender loving care. Things are looking back in shape now and cleaner. While we were in Boston, my mother-in-law gave me this outdoor MOON light. We put it outside yesterday afternoon and when we got back from dinner last night, the moon immediately caught my attention. See what you think...........................




Posted by The Brown Family (DC) at 6:41 PM

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