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

February 16, 2011

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2003. We took Mattie to a local farm and as you can see in this picture, Peter had one hand on Mattie and the other on this cute cow. Though this picture was taken at a strange angle, I still love it. To me, the cow and Mattie were facing the same direction and yet neither one of them wanted to really stand still for this picture.



Quote of the day: And you would accept the seasons of your heart just as you have always accepted that seasons pass over your fields and you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. ~ Kahlil Gibran


I began my day by exercising. When we cleaned out Mattie's room this weekend, I found this aerobic stair stepper exercise machine that a former student sent to me while Mattie was battling cancer. So Peter assembled it for me this weekend and I decided to try it. How such a small machine could be so challenging is beyond me. After 10 minutes, I gave up for the day, but realize I have a goal to work toward.

I stayed home the entire day and was glued to my computer. I was working on Foundation paperwork and remained quite focused on the upcoming Walk. In the midst of working, I received an email pertaining to my work with the DC Counselor Licensure Board. As some of my readers who are mental health counseling professionals know, I have been advocating for licensed professional counselors in the District of Columbia to be considered independent providers. An independent provider is technically someone who can diagnose, treat, and create a client's treatment plan (which basically allows client's access to certain services, services which are reimbursable by health insurance). For years, counselors working for the DC government have been told that they can't write treatment plans and therefore must be supervised and have a licensed social worker sign off on their work. I will spare you the details because for this venue, it isn't important. But what is important is the simple fact that all may vocal battles and letter writing paid off. I learned today that legislation in DC is being amended to so that licensed professional counselors can sign off on treatment plans and be independent providers. When I learned of this news, I practically jumped out of my chair. I walked around our home in thorough excitement, because you need to understand this is a battle I have been fighting for ten years.

As I was walking around the house, I went into Mattie's room, and I basically said to his picture.... "we did it!" Mattie would have been proud of me, because he would always get a kick out of watching me fight for a cause. In fact one of my board members told me today in a congratulatory email that I fought like "hell," and I should be proud of what I accomplished. For several hours today, I felt good. I felt that I enabled a change, a change that only benefits my profession and the people we serve.
This evening, Peter and I attended an event hosted by Hope Street Kids. We were invited as founders of the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation. In attendance with us were Ann and Dr. Shad, both Foundation board members.

The mission of Hope Street Kids is to eliminate childhood cancer through pioneering research, advocacy and education (http://www.hopestreetkids.org/). We had the wonderful opportunity to network with many people who have made helping children and their families with cancer their life mission. I met several people who, like us, started their own foundation because they lost a child to the disease. It was interesting to hear about their activities and goals, and certainly it is important to learn from others and collaborate on our common missions. Peter and I had the opportunity to reconnect with Dr. Peter Adamson, the chair of the Children's Oncology Group and an oncologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We also reconnected with Ray Thorn, the Health Legislative Assistant in Rep. Chris Van Hollen's office. We met Ray in March 2010, while advocating on Capitol Hill. The ironic thing is he still remembered my name and our story. That impressed me and caught my attention.

In addition to the event being a good networking opportunity, the actual location was over the top. Peter and I had visited the Mansion on O Street in Washington, DC once before. Peter's brother actually had his wedding reception there. The Mansion is home to over 100 rooms and 32 secret doors. It is considered an intimate private club, luxury hotel, conference center, and museum. Even though the wedding I attended there was over a decade ago, this place leaves a lasting impression. I encourage you to google it and come to your own conclusions. The place is artistic and eclectic, and yet seems like something out of a movie.

This evening in one of the rooms was an amazing chocolate table (pictured). Frankly it was hard to leave that room. It had a chocolate fountain and everything possible to dip into the fountain. Pictured with Peter and I is Randy Walker. Randy is the co-founder of Hope Street Kids. He lost his daughter, Caroline, when she was 9 years old to Neuroblastoma. Randy flew in from Ohio to attend tonight's event, and though Peter has met Randy before, tonight was my first encounter. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Randy. He is down to earth, very approachable, and is passionate about children's cancer.

Do notice the background of things that surrounded us in this picture. This gives you some idea for the rest of the house. It is a four story structure, and every room is jammed packed with art and other things. Needless to say, we all had a great old time touring the rooms. I insisted that Ann and Dr. Shad see the rest of the house, and though I tried to do it justice, they really had to see it for themselves. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time!!!

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