Monday, May 23, 2016

Monday, May 23, 2016



Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2007. Mattie was five years old and as you can see full of life and happy to be outside and on our deck. Mattie preferred being outside, in the fresh air, and experiencing nature. This "got lobster" shirt seemed absolutely perfect for him. It was bold, red, and made a statement. Not unlike Mattie!









Quote of the day: Left alone, no matter at what age or under what circumstance, you have to remake your life. ~  Katharine Graham

I ran around today doing chores and one of my stops was the post office. While waiting in line to mail something, the woman in front of me turns around and says to me..... "I LOVE your necklace. It is beautiful and must have been given to you by someone who loves you a lot." 

I spared her the story or the symbolism behind this piece, but instead thanked her since she meant the feedback in the nicest way. 

The irony is NO ONE gave me this necklace, I gave it to myself. While Peter and I were in New York City last year for a conference, I bought the pendant from an artist at the conference. She was displaying her creations at a booth. However, I did not like the necklace the pendant sat on. So indeed, I brought it back to DC and gave the pendant to my friend Laurie. Laurie creates her own jewelry and is an artist by heart. Laurie is the one who transformed this necklace. This necklace is important to me for multiple reasons. First it features a moon and Mattie's nickname in preschool was Mattie Moon. Second, the saying, "I love you to the moon and back," is something Mattie and I always used to say to one another. Lastly, check out the star hanging down off the moon. It features the letter M. M for Mattie. Actually when the artist designed the pendant, she used the letter M, because her daughter's name begins with M. But my luck, it works for me too! 

Tonight, I am featuring more photos from this year's Walk. Check out some of our faithful supporters..... childhood cancer survivors and their families, as well as families who lost a child to cancer. 

Three beautiful childhood cancer survivors..... Brandon, Bridget, and Zoe!

Pictured from left to right are: Holly (Bridget's sister), Brandon, Tricia (Mattie's favorite HEM/ONC nurse), Bridget, and Zoe! Brandon, Bridget, and Zoe are all childhood cancer survivors. Also in this photo is Tricia, a nurse who provided care to all of them! They got into the spirit of the Mattie Miracle Walk, so much so that when the "Chicken Dance" was played they showed us that they are ANYTHING but chicken!

This is Bridget's family! We met them when Mattie was battling cancer. While Mattie was battling so was Bridget. Bridget is hopefully in remission now, after 7 years of fighting this disease. 

Pictured from left to right are Holly, Vicki, Cathy (Bridget's mom), Mattie's best buddy Brandon, and George (Bridget's dad).

Pictured with Peter and me is Brandon (Mattie's best buddy), Toni (Brandon's mom), and Gigi (Brandon's niece)! Mattie and Brandon were both diagnosed with cancer around the same time, and became the closest of friends.The walk wouldn't be the same with the Johnson family in attendance. 

Mattie had a very special friend named Jocelyn. Jocelyn and Mattie both battled osteosarcoma together. In many ways Jocelyn was not only a friend but a mentor to Mattie. There was a difference in their ages, but they got along splendidly. Jocelyn helped normalize Mattie's first limb salvaging surgery for him. She took this upon herself to do because she knew such a surgery would be daunting for a six year old. Peter and I tried to help Mattie, but since we hadn't experienced such a surgery personally, it was hard for us. It ultimately was Jocelyn who emotionally prepared us for what was about to happen.

Jocelyn lost her courageous battle to osteosarcoma in 2014, but she will never be forgotten. We are deeply honored that Jocelyn's family is a part of our Walk each year and that they continue to support a Foundation that meant so much to Jocelyn.

The beauty of our wonderful sedation nurse angel, Debbi! Also pictured with Debbi is Jessica... a fantastic child life specialist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. 

Our family together at the Walk. We thank our parents for contributing $3,000 toward the successful challenge wall competition!! There will now be a second Mattie Miracle Snack Cart that will be funded. The first one is at Georgetown Hospital and the second one is going to Children's Hospital at Sinai in Baltimore.

Pictured from left to right are Don and Barbara Brown (Peter's parents), Peter, Vicki, Mauro (Vicki's dad), Ilona (our close friend and co-founder of the Chris Lantos Foundation, in memory of her only child who died from Leukemia), Virginia (Vicki's mom) and Karen (Vicki's lifetime friend). 

Our Georgetown family..... Debbi (Mattie's sedation nurse) and all of Tricia's family including our canine buddy, Melo! 

This is Wendy and Gavin, co-founders of The EVAN Foundation! They too lost their only child to cancer (Neuroblastoma). We appreciate their support of our work. 

This our friend Margy! Wearing an orange sweatshirt and showing Mattie spirit. Margy runs a non-profit cancer organization called Growing Hope. She has successfully provided support to children with cancer for over 20 years. 

We are so happy that we had so many of our cancer network present at the Walk!