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 28, 2016

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. We spent that Christmas in Los Angeles with my parents. In my parent's backyard were wonderful lemon, orange, and grapefruit trees. As you can see, Mattie loved picking and sorting fruit in a basket. It was the real life tasks that Mattie always found engaging. 


Quote of the day: Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values. ~ Thomas S. Monson


Peter and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale today. I am happy to say that the flight was uneventful and we arrived around 1. At which point, we headed to pick up the rental car so we could drive to Miami to pick my parents up at the airport. It seems to me in the last three days, we have spent a lot of time in a car. The rental agency was a show, and NOT a good one. I have never seen a rental lot with FEW to NO cars in it. Yet there were lines of people who had pre-ordered cars and were very disgruntled. By the time we got to Hertz, we could see very upset customers. One family started talking with me, and explained (like us) they had ordered a car months ago, and yet here they were waiting, with no end or options in sight. Since Peter and I had to drive to Miami to pick up my parents, we were motivated to work the problem. Peter literally went around the rental agency's parking lot to assess what cars were available. He then reported back to me that there were cars outside the parameter but it was unclear who the cars were being held for. So at that point, I demanded to speak to a manager, I knew dealing with the attendants on the lot was a waste of time because they weren't the decision makers. I found the manager, Peter pointed out the type of car we pre-arranged and needless to say the manager complied. People who were waiting in line for a hour wanted to know my secret. So I explained to them what they had to do and who they had to interface with. Moral of the story is ALWAYS, ALWAYS ask to speak directly to a manager, regardless of the situation or problem. In every context possible, I have found this to be most effective. 

This was the sight we saw entering into Ft. Lauderdale. To most people this is an annoyance..... a draw bridge going up. But to me, it reminds me of Mattie. Mattie LOVED watching the draw bridges rise and fall when he visited Ft. Lauderdale. This sight always animated him! We would literally walk onto the bridge (on the passenger walkway), and observe the mechanics and of course the boat that sailed through underneath the bridge. 
It was an official Mattie greeting into Ft. Lauderdale. 
While waiting on the bridge, we saw the Coral Princess sailing away from the port and heading out to sea. 











This photo definitely proves we are not in DC anymore. The palm trees of Florida symbolize being away in a more tropical location. It is very special to see sunshine, to feel 80 degree temperatures and everything green. When you see this, you have to ask yourself..... why experience winter? Maybe if I loved cold weather I wouldn't even be asking such a question. But given I am a summer person, I would be very happy with Florida's year round temperatures. 

1 comment:

Margy Jost said...

I too, wonder if I love sun & warmth so much whatever am I doing in Virginia. Well, Virginia is a step toward warmth & sun, having grown up in Wisconsin.. Growing up, we had lots more cold longer and the sun shines brighter more often. However, there is nothing like a Wisconsin Fall. The beauty of the Fall compares to the beauty, I find in Virginia n the Spring!

Your description of Hertz brings back many rental times in my life. It is a nightmare of wasted time. I am glad you knew how to speed the process and helped others with your knowledge!!!!

The Mattie bridge is so interesting to know. O.C. Has a drawbridge. I know going forward, while I watch this bridge go up, I will think of Mattie