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

October 17, 2020

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2004. Mattie was two and a half years old and we were on a preschool trip to a pumpkin patch. This is not a preschool I discuss often, because the school was poorly run and Mattie was asked to leave after only a month of enrollment. The director was unstable and Mattie lashed out at her and even bit another student. The director led me to believe that Mattie had a profound problem and her school couldn't handle him. I will never forget the day she called me and said she wanted my permission to put soap in Mattie's mouth. She felt that would stop him from biting. Needless to say, she did not get my permission. The problem wasn't Mattie, it was the director. Pictured with Mattie was Elizabeth, the only lovely individual who worked in the school. Note that the director fired Elizabeth shortly after this photo was taken. It was the preschool from hell. Any case, any field trips that the school took, I always went along to supervise. This is the only photo I have with Mattie and Elizabeth.

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

  • number of people diagnosed with the virus: 8,086,780
  • number of people who died from the virus: 218,980


This evening friends are getting together to say good-bye to our mutual friend, Mary, who is moving out of the area with her family. I met Mary when Mattie was in preschool. Not the first preschool I discussed above, but Resurrection Children's Center. A preschool Mattie loved and thrived in. So in reality we have known each other 14 years. It is never easy losing a friend geographically, and we certainly want her to know how much she will be missed. I am bringing several things to the outdoor party. Starting with Fall flowers. 










I haven't made this cream cheese torte in YEARS. Probably the last time was when I was in graduate school. However, back then, this recipe was always a hit. It is easy to make and it is a combination of cream cheese, pesto, and sun dried tomatoes. 
https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/pesto-and-sun-dried-tomato-torte/0f3cb1f0-4fd4-4199-a1aa-3343623bda3f

Given that it will be cold this evening, the host of the party asked me to make chili. So I decided to make a turkey chili rather than with beef. In addition, I added some new things to our recipe. Such as corn cut off the cob, bay leaves, and red wine.
It is hard to know what pairs well with chili. So I settled on an autumn themed salad. Starting with delicata squash. Ever tried them? To me, it tastes like pumpkin. But you cook them with their skin on and the skin is edible! 
The recipe also called for pomegranate seeds. A tasty but very messy fruit. We had red juice all over the kitchen!
The final product! With maple balsamic dressing. 

1 comment:

Cheryl said...

Holy Cow! Your food looks amazing! All of it! The salad is beautiful. And the flowers--such cheerful colors! Mattie would definitely approve. It all looks lovely.