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

December 27, 2016

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Tuesday, December 27, 2016 -- Mattie died 380 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. This was Mattie's second airline flight across the Country. This photo features Mattie going to Los Angeles for Christmas. As you can see Mattie was FULL of energy aboard the flight. Some kids nap when flying. NOT Mattie. He was on and playing for five hours straight. I remember coming aboard every plane trip with ALL sorts of toys, books, games, and puzzles. Needless to say we were intriguing to the other children flying with us. 



Quote of the day: Christmas is a time in which, of all times in the year, the memory of every remediable sorrow, wrong, and trouble in the world around us, should be active with us, not less than our own experiences, for all good. ~ Charles Dickens


It was our first full day back in DC and we hit the ground running this morning. Both Sunny and Indie had to be boarded as we head to Florida on Wednesday morning. This is our first time boarding Sunny for a week with a non-friend. Sunny won't be in a kennel but he is staying in a home of a woman named Rose. We were introduced to Rose by a fellow friend. Rose rescues collies and has helped a countless number of families in our area with collie adoption. Ironically I wanted a collie and applied all over our region for a collie starting in February of 2016. But was turned down by many of these agencies because they felt I lived in the city, and not having a private backyard would be limiting for a dog. It is too bad I wasn't connected with Rose before I adopted Sunny, because there are many collies that do need a great home. She practically sends me photos of a collie up for adoption monthly! Yet, I think Sunny was meant to be a part of our lives and I am thankful that City Dogs Rescue has no problem adopting dogs out to people living in Washington, DC. 

We introduced Sunny to Rose about a month ago, to see if she would be a good sitter for Sunny. Rose has two collies of her own that live at home. Sunny got along splendidly with both boys. Rose also has a large securely fenced in backyard. When we visited we watched Sunny play off leash with Rose's dogs, and he absolutely LOVED it. In fact we saw a whole other side of Sunny while visiting. He was running around, jumping, and very playful. Not the sedate boy we typically see. Though I wasn't in the car today, Peter tells me that when he went to drop Sunny off at Rose's, that Sunny immediately recognized her neighborhood and home. Isn't that amazing? Mind you Rose doesn't live around the corner. She lives over the Bay Bridge and it takes 75 minutes to get to her. He is quite a pooch and our home definitely seems quiet tonight without his presence! Same for Indie. Indie has also been boarded. She is at our vet, as I can't find friends who like to cat sit. I never knew that dog sitters would be easier to come by! That surprises me, since cats are much easier to care for. Any case, I remind myself that Patches was boarded at our vet for over a year while Mattie was battling cancer. So I know Indie will be fine.

The next time you hear from Peter and me, we will hopefully be safely in Florida. 

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