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

December 4, 2011

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2008. There was a lot going on in this picture. Mattie's cousins, aunt, and uncle came to visit him in the hospital. Instead of all of us being couped up in a tiny room, Miki, Mattie's amazing HEM/ONC nurse allowed us to go outside. Which was three floors down from the pediatric unit. Though Miki was working in the unit, she would periodically come outside to check on Mattie and his IV fluids. These are the types of nurses Mattie had. They are all angels, and understood how difficult it was for an active six year old to battle cancer.  A cancer which we all knew was aggressive and would have profound ramifications on all of us (Mattie, Peter and I, and all of Mattie's close care providers). Miki appreciated Mattie, his creativity, and his intelligence. But she also appreciated Peter and I and told me on many occasions how she admired our family cohesiveness.... and believe me cancer can test even the best of relationships. This photo captures a happy moment in the hospital, and at the time we couldn't have possibly imagined how much worse things were going to get.

Quote of the day: There is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Tonight's quote speaks to me. It is meaningful especially since Peter and I went to Mattie's school today to visit his oak tree. This tree was planted in May of 2010 by Mattie's class in honor of their missing classmate. Last year, we placed a  beautiful sounding wind chime on Mattie's tree. So in a quiet and windy moment, you can definitely hear "music amongst" this tree's branches!

Last Christmas, I went out of town and I forgot to hang an ornament on Mattie's tree. I felt badly about that. However, Erica, a Mattie Miracle supporter and mom I met through Mattie's preschool, saved the day. While I was in California, Erica emailed me a picture of a butterfly ornament she had placed on her tree. She wanted me to know that she purposefully bought and put a butterfly ornament on her tree to remember Mattie. I happened to tell her that I loved her butterfly and that I forgot to put an ornament on Mattie's tree. Next thing I knew, Erica mobilized forces, drove to Ann's house and delivered another butterfly ornament, so that Mattie would be remembered at Christmas time on his tree. Ann then went to campus and placed the butterfly on Mattie's tree for us. It is amazing that a year later the butterfly is still on the tree and looking beautiful. 

I went out this week and purchased ornaments for Mattie's tree. Peter got on a ladder today and placed two of the bigger ornaments closer to the top of the tree. If you look closely at this picture, you will see a Red Poinsettia ornament on the left hand side of this picture, almost at the 9 o'clock position and a lovely Gold Star ornament at almost the 3 o'clock position. In 2010, Mattie's tree was about my height, but in a year's time, it has almost doubled in size!

If you look closely between the beautiful red leaves, you will see the Butterfly ornament that Erica gave us. The butterfly is gold and red, and has purple spots. It still is shining on the tree!

What I love about this picture is it captures both the cello-wrap butterflies I created for Mattie's tree in September (for the second anniversary of his death) and the red pine cone ornaments we hung today in honor of Christmas. It is a rather sad reality that while others are getting ready for Christmas break, going shopping for their children, and decorating for Christmas, Peter and I are placing ornaments on a memorial tree for a child who is no longer with us. While others are living in the present, we are living in the past.

Mattie's tree is a twinkling tree! It shimmers and shines in the light. It glitters when the sun shines onto the wind chime, the cello-wrap butterflies, and now the ornaments. It sparkles, just like Mattie sparkled. But the question is how many people will notice these new additions? I am sure for many who did not know Mattie, this appears to be just an oak tree on campus. But honestly if you approach this tree with a quiet heart there is no telling what you will hear and see.

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