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

April 23, 2016

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2004. Mattie was two years old. That weekend we took him to the Reston Zoo. A favorite of Mattie's because it was small, not crowded, and very hands on! As you can see I was intrigued by both Peter and Mattie that day. Peter was feeding the sheep and Mattie was staring at the goats. Both boys glued to and engaged with the animal of their own choosing. 


Quote of the day: My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece. Claude Monet



We divided and conquered today! We were able to do this because we went to Home Depot last evening and got ALL the materials we needed to work today. Which included plants and wood! Peter and I worked on two different projects. 

Peter has been creating schematics to build Corn Hole boards for weeks. This year at the Foundation Walk we are having a corn hole tournament. What is corn hole? 

Corn hole is like a bean bag toss. Specifically it is an American lawn game in which players take turns throwing bags of corn (or a bean bag) at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. A bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. Corn hole tournaments are very popular now and we are trying to add this new activity to our event to raise additional funds, but also to give teens, young adults, and adults a lively activity. The prize for winning our tournament is an iPad. 

Designing the corn hole boards (Peter made SIX, because people are playing simultaneously, so you can't just have one or two boards) isn't as easy as it may seem. There are regulations one has to follow in terms of dimensions. We debated on buying the boards versus making them. Purchasing them would cost us close to $800. Though making them is labor intensive, we opted to do this. In addition, a girl scout troop at Mattie's school was looking for a building project for their bronze award. So next weekend, we will hand over the corn hole boards to them and they will finish assembling, painting and decorating them. So it truly is a labor of love for the Foundation. 

It took Peter over 6 hours today. He had drills, saws, and all sorts of power tools out. We had sawdust everywhere. In the morning it was pouring, but fortunately he was able to work on our balcony. 

While Peter was on one end of our home, I was on the other. I was determined to plant our deck space. That is no easy feat and typically I do it with Peter. This is the before photo!









Here is the finished product. 



















Another view of our garden! 














What the deck now looks like from Mattie's Room!














This evening I picked up 25 peachy roses, each with a water tube. I then wrapped and bowed each flower individually. Why the flowers?

Tomorrow "Take the Stage," a performing company featuring local children is hosting a benefit musical for Mattie Miracle. Peter and I will be attending and after the show, I want to give each of the 25 performers a rose! We appreciate their efforts and energy they are bringing to this musical, as they try to help us raise funds for the psychosocial needs of children with cancer. 


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