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 14, 2019

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2009. Mattie was off chemo by this point and all of his surgeries were behind him. For a VERY short period of time, we were under the delusion that treatment was over, and we could focus upon rehabilitation. Of course, I know much more about cancer now, and in hindsight, I realize Mattie was never going to have NO EVIDENCE of DISEASE. Mainly because treatment did not cause his tumors to disappear. Therefore, he was always living with disease inside of him even when it was undetectable by scanning. 

This photo showed Mattie working hard with Anna, his physical therapist. They had a special bond. Anna got to know Mattie quickly and assessed what she had to do to get him to actively participate in therapy. It typically involved games and bugs. Do you see the big plastic roach on the floor? Mattie had to try to walk to it, to pick it up, and then most likely would used it to freak me out. Which was the anticipated reaction Mattie was looking for!


Quote of the day: It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.John Joseph Powell


Tomorrow will mark our 24th wedding anniversary. In honor of the occasion, we went out yesterday to have lunch at Chez Francois. This restaurant is located in Great Falls, VA. It is a one of a kind restaurant and experience. I absolutely love their outdoor terrace, which is surrounded by farms (in which many of the vegetables and herbs are grown for the restaurant) and greenery. Before heading out, Peter snapped a photo of me on our deck at home. 
This is the terrace at Chez Francois. It is truly bucolic. I always felt that Monet would have appreciated this setting and I can just imagine his impressionist interpretation of this space. What you can't see is the fountain. So you hear that sound, the sound of birds, and always see MANY butterflies floating by!
See the fountain behind Peter? The restaurant is special. The service is old world, they provide you with a four course meal, and you are NEVER rushed. You don't hear others talking or loud noises either. It is truly peaceful and serene. 
You can see some of the greenery around us!
Our waiter snapped this photo of us before lunch began. 
In honor of our anniversary, they treated us to this wonderful meringue, surrounded by raspberry sauce and chocolate ice cream! Honestly the meringue is so special, like no other I have tried.  

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