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

September 10, 2017

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2009. I posted a similar photo a few nights ago of Peter wheeling Mattie out onto our deck to see his much wished gift.... a ride on car. This was an item Mattie wanted even when he was healthy. But I always refused this request, until we found out Mattie was dying. That particular day, Mattie sat outside on our deck and watched Peter put "Speedy Red" together. Naturally if Mattie did not have cancer, he would have been running around and trying to participate in the assemble process, but given Mattie's fragile state, he did not have the energy for this, yet he didn't want to miss out and stayed outside for hours watching Peter.


Quote of the day: You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you. ~ Mary Tyler Moore


I woke up this morning to hearing the DC Triathlon right outside our windows. Sunny was besides himself! He wanted to go outdoors and watch the commotion. It isn't everyday that we have bicycles RATHER than cars on Route 66. You can see Sunny watching the bicycle riders from above. Peter and I loved the peacefulness of NO cars. 
While Sunny was on our balcony, our neighbor and her dog, were on the balcony below. Sunny was not only watching bicycles but communicating to his doggy buddy in the unit below ours!
Meanwhile, next weekend Peter and I are participating in Curefest. It is a National event held each September on the National Mall. The event calls attention to childhood cancer and draws families from all over the USA and Canada. September is childhood cancer awareness month, which is why this advocacy/ awareness event is held this month. 

Mattie Miracle will be hosting a booth under a tent at Curefest and each year we try to bring new materials with us. This year, we wish to highlight the Psychosocial Standards and the implementation process. So in order to educate families about the Standards, we generated a tri-fold brochure that attendees can take home with them to learn more. 

The brochure was written by us and targets families. Given our experiences I believe we were the perfect ones to write this document and help families of children with cancer understand the need for the Standards, what they are meant to do, and how families can download the Standards free of cost. The Standards are not just for professionals to use but can help families learn about the psychosocial issues that can arise during each stage of the cancer process. The Standards can alert families to findings in the literature, to help them understand they are not alone, and most importantly give them the words and research necessary to impress upon a medical care team that psychosocial support is needed. 

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