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 18, 2020

Friday, September 18, 2020

Friday, September 18, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2006. Mattie was four years old. That day we received a cat toy from Peter's parents. I am not sure who was more intrigued by the toy..... Mattie or Patches? Mattie got the toy out, assembled it, and then tried to engage Patches to play with him. Patches was a smart cat and frankly she had one eye on Mattie and another on the toy. In any case, Mattie learned a lot about caring for a pet and its needs from growing up with Patches. When Mattie had friends (who did not have cats of their own) come over for a playdate, he would show them how to pet Patches and behave around her. From that it was clear that Mattie loved Patches.  


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

  • number of people diagnosed with the virus: 6,705,114
  • number of people who died from the virus: 198,197


Do you ever feel like you are living in the movie, Groundhog Day? I know that Peter and I do. It is hard when each day is just like the day before it, and the only thing that seems to be evolving is the weather. Somehow it feels like we lost spring and summer. Lost it to a lockdown and unfortunately with the Fall season fast approaching, this doesn't mean things are improving. As we remain isolated. 

I had to pick up some preventable medications for Sunny today at the vet. I took Sunny with me in the car, because right after the pick up, I decided to give Sunny a two mile walk in the Palisades area of Washington, DC. As Sunny and I were walking around, all I could see in the yards were signs about wearing a mask and to practice social distancing. Certainly I get it, but what immediately came to my mind is..... how on earth can we ever return to normal? We have been taught to practically run the other way now when we see people, and avoid live interactions at all costs. We did not have time to grow into this new way of life, it was literally thrust upon us. For the health and safety of our communities, most of us complied and made a complete 180 to our regular way of life. But what happens if and when the virus is no longer a threat?

Will be go back to movie theaters, go out to dinner, attend sporting events, return to school, and participate in large gatherings? It's possible! Or is it possible that the psychosocial ramifications to COVID have transformed the way we conduct our lives? While being locked down, we have had to find other outlets and mechanisms to survive, communicate, work, and go to school. So I can't see  returning to the way things used to be happening any time soon! There will be consequences on our lives and things that we once did, we won't be doing any more. We have either learned to do without it, or things we used to do have been replaced by something else. 

For myself, I see a change from within. At one point in time, if you told me I had to relocate somewhere and leave Washington, DC, this would have upset me. Now, I feel less ties to anything. Most likely because of our daily existence which makes me feel disengaged, unconnected, and truly not a part of things around me. I realize everyone feels this way because of COVID, but I would say that after Mattie died, this was our baseline. It took great energy on my part to reinvest in the world, as in so many ways, I felt like the world no longer mattered if Mattie was not in it. Now that same empty feeling I worked through years ago is back. What's the answer? I don't have one, other than I take it one day at a time. A lesson I learned so well from Mattie's cancer journey.   

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