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

October 7, 2018

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2006. Mattie was four years old and out pumpkin picking at Butler's  Orchard in Maryland. We took Mattie to this Orchard twice a year, in October and in April for their Easter Egg Hunt. The pumpkin picking experience was right up Mattie's alley. It involved a hay wagon ride out to a pumpkin patch and then picking your own pumpkin! We never came home with just one either. 


Quote of the day: It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. ~ Francis of Assisi




There is something very therapeutic about walking at Roosevelt Island. I know it used to do wonders for Mattie when he was a little one. In fact, I would say Mattie was most calm and peaceful when he was outside interacting with nature. While walking on the Island today, I heard Peter reflecting about his weekend walks alone on the Island the entire first year after Mattie died. I remember Peter would get up very early and probably was on the Island by 6am. As he was unable to sleep and also it was very hard to adjust to having NO WEEKENDS with our son around. Weekends for us were a painful nightmare. Roosevelt Island serves so many purposes for us, but overall I would say it symbolizes an Island for healing. 

Along our walk today, we literally found two baby deer eating along the pathway. Sunny was VERY interested in approaching the deer. But was calm while we stopped and took photos. 

Here's the thing I observed. There were other people around us, talking and walking. But when people saw the deer, they stopped talking and walking and just took the moment in. This is what nature allows us to do as humans.... to escape and just be for a few minutes without photos and agendas. 
This wonderful monarch butterfly was sitting on the ground upside down. It was right in the middle of the pathway, and could easily be stepped upon. I picked it up with a branch and transferred to a leaf. It was still alive and hopefully now has a chance at life. 














This wonderful painted box turtle was literally crossing the pathway in front of us. Sunny did not know what to make out of it! Peter relocated this cutie into the woods, because it blended in so well with the pathway, it would be easy for others not to see it. 

There were so many wonderful sighting on the Island today, sightings that I know would have caused great excitement in Mattie. 

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