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

January 15, 2018

Monday, January 15, 2018

Monday, January 15, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2003. Mattie was nine months old and traveling in his favorite fashion..... on Peter's back. Mattie disliked his stroller and felt it confining, but when in a back pack, up high, he loved it. This photo was taken on Roosevelt Island. A place we visited practically every weekend.


Quote of the day: There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic. Diane Setterfield


Words most definitely can captivate and inspire, but they can also entrap and deflate our spirit and presence. Funny how a bunch of letters put together can have such a profound impact on our daily lives. On Saturday, Peter took Indie to the vet for her yearly shots. Anyone who has ever had to grab a cat and put it in a cage understands the stress of that activity alone. I can do practically anything with Sunny, but NOT with Indie! The one thing I don't like is catching Indie and putting her in a cage. So when I can schedule her appointments on a weekend, I do. I do because Indie is "Peter's cat!" She truly loves and responds to him. 

So back to Saturday. I did not go to the vet with Peter. However, when Peter got home after the appointment, I could sense he wasn't happy. Why? Well I asked!!! The vet introduced herself to him (as she wasn't our usual vet in the practice) and told Peter that she has three children and was THRILLED to get out of the house, away from them, to have a break!!! This is all Peter had to hear! I can't tell you how many times since Mattie died, we have heard parents complaining to us about their children and specifically complaining about the time commitment, the endless chores, and the schedule management. 

Depending upon our moods, when we hear this we can do one of two things.... disengage with the person (which is what Peter did with this vet), or give the person a reality check! It is quite humorous to say to someone who lost their only child that you need time away from your children and that they are driving you crazy! Naturally we would like to lash out and say..... do you know how lucky you are to have healthy children and TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM!?????

Clearly this vet did not know who she was talking to, and most likely if she was talking to a fellow parent, the comment would have been acknowledged, appreciated and perhaps even commiserated! Which leads me to what tonight's quote points out.... WORDS! I am not saying we have to walk on eggshells with each other in life, but I think we need to be cognizant that others may have losses in their lives, and given such experiences some words can come off as clueless, mean spirited, and naive. However, with that said, I have HIGHER expectations for those in the helping profession. I expect healthcare professionals (of any kind) and mental health professionals (of any kind) to have a broader lens into the medical travesties of life and therefore act accordingly, with deeper insight. Yet it is me who continues to be disappointed. Sometimes I have it in me to educate some of these professionals and other times, as Peter did, I just let it go. 

I would have to say though, shortly after Mattie died, when we heard such comments, it would turn around in our minds and hearts for days. Now we register them, we absorb them, and they still hurt, but we have built up a sort of inner armor so that we are no longer derailed for days.  

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