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

July 16, 2017

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2002. Mattie was four months old and was starting to eat rice cereal. We had a high chair, but Mattie did not like it initially. So his first food experiences were on our couch. Propped up with pillows! One thing we learned quickly and that was Mattie LOVED rice cereal!


Quote of the day: Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.Sally Koch


It was in the 90s today and with high humidity. Walking outside and in the sunshine was actually debilitating. I typically like the summer, but walking a dog in it is actually more complicated than the winter. I never thought I would be saying this!!!

We took Sunny for a walk today on the National Mall. Sunny loves the Mall, because it is there that he chases squirrels. 
Peter and Sunny scouting out a squirrel!
In hot pursuit, running after a squirrel!
As we walked back home, we went through one of local gardens. 













However, once we got home, we introduced Sunny to the air conditioning vent on the floor. As smart as he is, he never thought to walk behind the furniture to sit on the grate before. But today as we coaxed him there, he finally sat down to get cool!







Meanwhile, this evening, as I was petting Sunny, I felt a bump on his neck. So I pushed aside his fur. To me it looked like another fatty deposit, but when Peter saw it, he pronounced it as a dead tick. I gave him my tweezers, and look what he pulled out! Sunny takes flea, tick, and heart worm preventatives monthly! This tick died and wasn't able to burrow into Sunny because he is on preventatives. The thing probably tried biting Sunny, but was poisoned thanks to NextGuard (Sunny's monthly flea and tick med)! 

Since we rescued Sunny and he was already heart worm positive, I learned the hard way the ramifications that can ensue if you don't give your dog its preventatives. Thankfully there is treatment for heart worm, though it is tedious and can be life threatening since it is an arsenic based product. Thankfully after three infusions of this nasty stuff, Sunny is now heart worm free. But what this showed me is that monthly preventatives are vital to the overall health of a dog. Today proved this point once again!

1 comment:

Margy Jost said...

Vicki,

I was glad to see the tick had no chance to burrow!! Also that SUNNY found the grate! I can't imagine walking in this heat. I never thought I would feel like I can tolerate colder weather than heat but the cool June in Wisconsin was easier to tolerate than the warm heat of July here.

It is so nice to see that you went where Mattie took you, even in eating his rice cereal. It seems wrong the norms, we have placed on parents in many of their daily interactions raising a child. Do this, do that - one way is optimal! Babies, small children aren't machines and even a young baby, small child has preferences. I too, went with them