A Remembrance Video of Mattie

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to me that you take the time to write and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful and help support me through very challenging times. I am 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 have stopped writing on September 9, 2010. However, like my journey with grief there is so much that 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 me, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki



November 6, 2017

Monday, November 6, 2017

Monday, November 6, 2017
Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2004. Mattie was two years old and was at a Fall Festival. Mattie had a fascinating personality. He approached certain things with caution, like this long and steep slide. Mattie may have been cautious, but was intrigued and with support was eager to try going down the slide. As you can see he did this sitting on Peter's lap. By the following year, Mattie wanted to go down these slides himself. 





Quote of the day: Far be it from me to stand between a girl and her Skittles. ~ Sarah Weeks
This was the team of volunteers who helped sort candy for several hours today. 

 We thank:

  • Claire and her son Connor (who at 8, apparently loves sorting candy and can do it for hours)
  • Peggy 
  • Liz and her son Jackson
  • Laura
  • Karen
Before the team left, I snapped a photo of them surrounded by candy!











Then we had several candy deliveries including one from my friend Margy (who collected candy from Burke, VA), and Ellen (a mom who lost her child to cancer; collected candy from her neighborhood in Arlington, her preschool, and a Brownie Troop).

 Pictured left to right: Vicki, Laura, Ellen, and Margy
You can see some of the volume I faced today. 

 The volunteers all left at 12:30pm, and it was at that point, I started working strategically. I bought twenty additional bins at Home Depot today, and then worked in this garage until 7pm! 
Candy everywhere! It can get overwhelming, but I don't take breaks because I would never have accomplished all that I did today if I had. 
You can see all my new bins. Home Depot was wonderful today. We ordered 20 gallon bins, but they did not have what we ordered on line, so they gave me bigger bins at the same price as the smaller bins. They even carried them to my car. They were very helpful!
So after 7 hours of intense work, and I assure you lifting bins and candy is exhausting, this is what the garage looks like tonight. Of course more chaos will ensue as more candy gets delivered! 

 I am very tired tonight, but I am left wishing that fundraising was an easy as collecting candy! 
Posted by The Brown Family (DC) at 10:22 PM

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