Tonight's picture of Mattie was featured at the Mattie Miracle Walk last Sunday. It was one of our Forever Heroes posters on display around the track. We feel it is important to show the real faces of children who survived cancer as well as those who lost their battle. However, whether a child survives or dies, there are psychosocial issues that arise from both the treatment and death. I am honored that so many families from around the world (as far as the Philippines) shared their children with us so that we could create this beautiful display.
Quote of the day: The greatest gift in life is to be remembered. ~ Ken Venturi
Over the course of the next seven days, I will be posting photos from the Walk on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Mattie's Blog. Today's photos highlighted our Forever Heroes posters at the Walk. This was a brand new addition to the Walk. In the past, Mattie Miracle only displayed posters of children who survived their cancer battle. However, after talking to my friend Ilona (who also lost an only child to cancer), at last year's Walk, I decided that Mattie Miracle had to address the reality of childhood cancer. Which meant acknowledging that five children a day in the United States die from this disease. I have been very cautious about talking about death and dying at our Walk because the majority of our Walk attendees are parents of healthy children. Seeing photos of children who died from cancer, maybe overwhelming to them and their children in attendance. But I decided that this had to be done and to push through my fears. We tried to display the posters in a sensitive and meaningful manner.... like a rainbow or half moon.
I do think that introducing these posters to our walkers before the start of the actual event was helpful. I wanted our attendees to know that they would be seeing 66 faces of heroes, children who lost their battle to cancer. Though that maybe sad, I explained that bereaved families want their children to be remembered and that remembering their children is considered a gift. Quite frankly it is awful to lose a child to cancer, but that pain only gets magnified if we deem our children forgotten. I think this message resonated with our Walk attendees as I received many compliments on these posters.
- Though it is heartbreaking to see a sea of innocent children on posters who died, the reality is this happens to five children a day! In addition, on top of dealing with a lifetime of grief, it is far worse for families to feel that their children are forgotten and that their lives no longer matter.
- It is important that our attendees understand that the psychosocial issues do not END for families once their child dies. The death of a child remains with us always and bringing awareness to this vital issue is necessary. The psychosocial consequences of losing a child need to be discussed out in the open.
We want to thank all of our Facebook families for sharing their heroic children with us. Mattie Miracle received a lot of feedback about how important, moving, and meaningful these posters were at the Walk. Keep in mind that it took LESS THAN ONE DAY on Facebook to get close to 80 Forever Hero photos. Which speaks to how families are compelled to share their children, their stories, and to find meaning and purpose for this loss.
Theses are our friends Ilona and Attila. They lost Chris, their only child, to cancer three years ago. I am very glad that our photographer was able to capture this heartfelt photo. They have established their own Foundation, The Chris Lantos Foundation, in memory of their son. 
These are our friends Wendy and Gavin Lindberg. They lost their only child, Evan, to cancer six years ago. They have established their own Foundation, EVAN Foundation, in memory of their son.
1 comment:
Vicki, to say, I am glad you displayed all the posters, you did, sounds wrong! What would make me happy is if there was no reason to bring awareness of the harsh reality of Childhood Cancer, that children die! The entire section was so moving, I wish I would have taken some photos. Especially of Brendan ROURKE to send to your friend Neil. I stood there reading what you had written on the posters, touched by the descriptions followed by the surreal feeling that all those children have died. I only knew Alexis. Although, in 20 years of work, I know many children who have died. I was the important information person at work who reminded staff of a child's birthday or anniversary of their death.
The walk, already very meaningful was made only more so by all the Posters.
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