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

June 1, 2012

Friday, June 1, 2012

Friday, June 1, 2012


Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2007. Each year Mattie requested that the size of his pool on our deck be larger. We started out with a small pool, and after several summers, we landed up with this huge rainbow pool. A pool which felt like it took up half of our deck space. Keep in mind that Mattie did not like to swim and therefore did not want a pool for that purpose. He wanted the pool to float his toys, to drive his remote controlled boats, and to run his various scientific experiments.  When I look at this picture now, it seems like ages ago when our deck looked like this and that Mattie was a part of our lives.   





Quote of the day: If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. ~ Henry David Thoreau



This afternoon, Ellen and her family came to their beach house, where we are staying. Charlotte, Ellen's daughter, had her last day of school today. Charlotte told us about her last day and she showed me the wonderful gift her teacher made for each child in her class. Peter and I have enjoyed our day with Charlotte, and as I told Ellen tonight, I can see why Mattie loved Charlotte. Charlotte has a contagious laugh and as Peter was acting silly and getting her to laugh tonight, I couldn't help but reflect on all the times I heard that same laugh, when she was playing with Mattie.

The last day of school clearly doesn't impact me at all, or it shouldn't. Yet it does. I can't help but reflect upon the last day of school in 2008. Some times it is hard to rationalize how Mattie is no longer with us, and yet his friends get older, they are growing, developing, and have amazing and diverse interests. 

I am not sure why this was a challenging day for me, but it was. Over lunch, I landed up in tears, and the beauty of the situation is I did not have to explain to Peter why. He simply understood. He understood that today was the last day of school. He understood that summer has officially began for Mattie's cohort, and yet, for me it is the beginning of the time of year in which I begin to flounder. Flounder more so than the rest of the year, if that is possible. It is also the time of year in which I associate with Mattie's cancer diagnosis.

I try to compensate with staying busy and getting involved in different Foundation activities, but regardless of how much I take on, nothing quite fits the void of Mattie.  

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