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 11, 2012

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 -- Mattie died 170 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2007. Mattie spent Christmas that year in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Though my parents lived in California, we all met up in Florida that year. Mattie loved Deerfield Beach. It was very family oriented and Mattie loved digging and creating. As you can see from this photo, Mattie had dug a substantial hole to set the stage for a Mattie/Peter sand design. Their sand designs were so impressive that other kids on the beach would always come over and ask whether they could play with us and help with the process.


Quote of the day: Fly me up to where you are beyond the distant star. I wish upon tonight to see you smile, if only for a while to know you're there. A breath away's not far to where you are. ~ Josh Groban


I went back to the same doctor I saw last week. There is one thing I can say about the medical profession.... when pressed for an explanation that involves thinking outside the box, the solutions are not always forthcoming. It can be a very frustrating situation when you are in pain and there isn't always a tangible explanation for the symptoms that are presenting themselves. Since I have experienced this time and time again with my bladder condition, I am very aware of the medical attitudes I sometimes need to confront. Nonetheless sometimes you just do not have the energy to argue. Yet who is going to advocate better for how you feel than you? By the time this doctor's office finished with me, I was in more pain than when I entered the office. As I sit and write this posting tonight I am wondering why I am so exhausted. However, upon reflection between balancing pain and the medical profession for the last two weeks, I am not at all surprised that I am tired.

When I got home today, I received a lovely card in the mail from my friend Denise. It is funny how a card can brighten my day! Almost a lost art, the art of handwriting and expressing one's self! I did not know Hallmark created such a greeting card, but on the front of the card it reads.... "There's no timetable for grief." I couldn't have said it better myself. It wasn't necessarily a holiday card per se, but since it was sent around the holiday season, the intention was to let me know that Denise's family was thinking of us. People do wish Peter and I a Merry Christmas all the time, and we absorb that wish, but sometimes I wish people could step back from their lives and understand what ours truly looks like. I have a feeling if they did, wishing us a Merry Christmas wouldn't be on the tip of their tongues. Which is why Denise's card brought a smile to my face. Because in essence the gift she gave me was that of understanding. Three years may have ticked by, but for us, Mattie's loss is very real and hasn't faded in time. To me it is always a beautiful gift when I feel that someone really tries to get this and understand!
 

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