Thursday, June 7, 2018

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2003. Mattie was a year old and it was his first trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Despite being right on the Atlantic Ocean, Mattie preferred being indoors. He found the sea overwhelming and hated the feeling of the sand on his feet. Of course that changed by the second summer trip to the beach. What I love about this photo was Mattie was holding his favorite book, Goodnight Moon. I can't tell you how many times Peter and I read this book over the course of Mattie's life. We knew it so well at one point that we could recite it by heart! 


Quote of the day: We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread... They offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. ~  Viktor E. Frankl

Tonight's Walk photos highlight our "Faces" posters. Over the last two years, we have done two different Facebook campaigns. In which we invited families impacted by childhood cancer to share photos of their children with us. In our request, we were very specific with how the photos would be used... at our Walk and for awareness purposes. 

The first set of posters are our Forever Heroes. There are 70 of these posters, and each highlights the face and life of a child who died from the disease. When we did this campaign, I can't tell you how quickly we received 70 photos. Within a matter of hours, as families are very eager to have their children remembered.

The second set of posters are our Forever Families. These posters capture a photo of the entire family and the five words they use to describe how cancer changed their lives. This is what our "Forever Family" poster looked like. Our five words were: Childless, Isolation, Trauma, Psychosocial, and Advocacy.

We felt it was important to do this series, since family members are a vital part of the treatment team. In fact, it is families who manage the 24/7 psychosocial concerns that arise from medical treatment! Also, Mattie Miracle understands that regardless of outcome (survivorship or death) a child will always be a significant part of the family's life. 

These were some of our walkers as they passed the Forever Family posters. Typically as walkers make laps around the track, they do pause and read these posters. 

This is a photo of myself with my friend Margy, her husband Ken, and their friend, Patti. We stopped to take a photo with Alexandra's family poster. Alexandra lost her battle with medulloblastoma, but I wanted her mom to know we were thinking of her family. Literally after the Walk, I sent this photo to Alexandra's mom. 

Our Forever Heroes posters. This half arc around the track is filled with the beautiful faces of children who have died. It is a very sobering portion of the Walk. Anyone who thinks that the cure rate for childhood cancer is acceptable, hasn't spoke to the five families in the United States who lose a child DAILY to cancer. 

Our Forever Hero poster of Mattie.

These are our friends Gavin and Wendy, who lost their only child, Evan, to neuroblastoma. Gavin and Wendy run their own very successful childhood cancer foundation and we try to support each others initiatives.  

My friend Margy and her husband, Ken. They posed for a photo with Brendan. Margy and I know Brendan's dad, Neal. Neal lives in Canada and is a lovely individual and a passionate cancer advocate. We sent this photo to Neal to let him know we were thinking of him and we are keeping Brendan's memory alive.