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

July 20, 2014

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2008. We took Mattie to the DC Aquatic Gardens that day. The reason I decided to repost this photo tonight (since I believe I posted it recently on the blog) is because Peter and I visited the Gardens today. Mattie loved the Aquatic Gardens and for good reason. They are a very unique place to visit, especially in July when the Lotus flowers are in bloom! Today when we visited, I remembered this exact photo and Mattie walking through the Gardens with us. 


Quote of the day: The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud --- the obstacles of life and its suffering. ... The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. ... Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one. ~ Goldie Hawn

Usually when we drive into the parking lot of the DC Aquatic Gardens it is EMPTY! Mainly because the park is off the beaten track in DC. But today, WOW, the parking lot was FULL. We practically got the last parking space. That is because this weekend was the yearly Lotus Festival at the park. Thankfully the event was yesterday and we missed the music, kids activities, and other fanfare. This would have been something we would have craved if Mattie were alive, now this is something we migrate away from. 

Thankfully despite the crowds of people, everyone was quiet and was there to enjoy the serenity of seeing the lotus flowers and all their beauty. The lotus is native to Tropical Asia and Queensland, Australia, and it is commonly cultivated in water gardens. It is also the national flower of India and VietnamIn the classical written and oral literature of many Asian cultures the lotus is present in figurative form, representing elegance, beauty, perfection, purity and grace. The flowers, seeds, young leaves, and roots are all edible. In Asia, the petals are sometimes used for garnish, while the large leaves are used as a wrap for food. So besides its beauty, it is also a very versatile plant. Peter snapped some glorious photos today! I will share a few with you because I don't think my words can do these sightings justice.

Lotus flowers in their glory! Some are more whitish and some are a deeper pink. 











It is fields and fields of lotus flowers in the heart of DC. The irony is if you come a few weeks from now to the DC Aquatic gardens you WON'T see this! The flowers will be all gone. All you will see are the green leaves. It is like a special gift that you wait for all year long to be unwrapped and that is why many people came out this weekend for the viewing. It is breathtaking and worth the trip. 












The incredible color closeup! A gift that only nature could produce!




















Peter caught for me the life cycle of the Lotus. It starts as a bud. Then the bud opens up into a flower. Once the flower blooms and the bloom dies off, what is left is this pod like thing. The pod looks like a shower head to me. In this case the shower head is green. Do you see it!? You may recall seeing these shower heads in flower arrangements. Sometimes they are used when they turn brown. 











In addition to incredible lotus flowers, the Gardens have water lilies. Claude Monet would have loved this setting. In fact, there were painters with their canvases set up right by the ponds and lilies today! No surprise given the incredible setting and subject matter at hand. It is an impressionists dream!














I am not sure I have ever seen purple
water lilies!



















In honor of Mattie, Peter captured a series of cuties today. This tiny turtle was the first sighting. 


















This dragonfly was the second sighting. It almost seems like this dragonfly is staring at Peter with its beady eyes. 








The third sighting which I did not even see was Mr. Frog! Peter found him hiding! Mattie would have gotten a huge kick out of this frog. I love how the frog was staring at Peter. Apparently he was staring at me too, but it was only when I got home and looked at the photo, did I actually see him!




I leave you tonight with this spectacular sight! If you live in the DC area, it is worth a trip to the Aquatic Gardens while these beauties are still in bloom!


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