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

May 23, 2020

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2004. Mattie was two years old. That day we took him down to the National Mall. Specifically by the reflecting pool near the Lincoln Memorial. This pool attracts ducks. As you can see Mattie was very energized by this sighting and particularly loved seeing mama ducks with her ducklings. We checked it out together, and since I always tried to assess for all possible accidents, I had one hand attached to Mattie's shirt, in case he got too close to the water. Whenever we walk passed the reflecting pool now, I think of this moment in time. 



Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins

  • number of people diagnosed with the virus: 1,617,838
  • number of people who died from the virus: 96,802


Peter and I couldn't take it today! We got out the hair trimmers and went at Sunny. During normal times, Sunny goes for grooming once a month. Without his groomer, Sunny is a mess. Sunny is a herding dog and has multiple layers of fur. 

From this photo, you can see his shaved leg. The leg that underwent surgery. I am thankful that his leg no longer looks like a raw turkey leg. The fur is growing in nicely. But you can still see the layer of differences! 

I can't say Sunny likes to be groomed. But he put up with us! Given we don't know what we are doing, he turned out fairly well. 
You can see he wasn't happy with us! It is my hope that I can give him a bath outside tomorrow on our deck. Sunny hates water, so we shall see how it goes. 

















I would like to share a memorable Walk 2020 story with you. It came from James' mom. This is James and he walked 36,357 steps on May 17th. 

At the end of our Walk day, I had a lovely email exchange with James' mom. I wanted her to know that James was one of our top walkers and therefore earned a $50 i-tunes gift card. In the process of chatting, she wanted me to know that James found our virtual walk to be an incredibly positive experience. At dinner on May 17th, she said she looked over at James and he looked a little melancholy. So she asked him if he was tired. He responded “No, I just can’t believe it is over. It was so fun.” Kristin wanted me to know that having a way of giving back and helping others during this difficult time really helped James. Kristin thanked me for having this event and said that her home would be glowing orange for many days to come. Her feedback made my day!!! 

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