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

November 4, 2019

Monday, November 4, 2019

Monday, November 4, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken on November 19, 2008. Mattie was recovering from his second limb salvaging surgery. The goal was to get Mattie to exercise his lungs, which is always needed post-surgery. Mattie did not want to do the usual breathing exercises. So we made it fun! A friend gave Mattie this crazy straw that literally wrapped around my ears and lead to the eyeglasses. In typical Mattie fashion, he wasn't going to do something without me trying it first. So I put on the crazy straw glasses and demonstrated the process. As you can see Mattie was checking it out!


Quote of the day: In recent years, stressed-out urbanites have been seeking refuge in green spaces, for which the proven positive impacts on physical and mental health are often cited in arguments for more inner-city parks and accessible woodlands. The benefits of “blue space” – the sea and coastline, but also rivers, lakes, canals, waterfalls, even fountains – are less well publicized, yet the science has been consistent for at least a decade: being by water is good for body and mind. ~ Elle Hunt

Check out Brownie Troop 5614! This group of 3rd graders made sort order of loads of candy. They sorted a bunch in under an hour. The beauty of small hands and their incredible energy!


In the midst of being focused on the candy drive, my mom sent me an article entitled, Blue spaces: why time spent near water is the secret of happiness. I attached a link to the article below. 

How do you feel when you are around a body of water? I know personally there is nothing like seeing water. I am not just talking about the ocean. Truly any body of water and I would include in that man-made fountains. Which maybe why, if I get to chose where we walk Sunny, I always suggest walking by the Potomac River. Certainly we have the chaos of Washington, DC around us, but there is something mesmerizing even about the river. 

What caught my attention in the article below were the following points: 

  1. Proximity to water – especially the sea – is associated with many positive measures of physical and mental well being, from higher levels of vitamin D to better social relations.
  2. We find people who visit the coast, for example, at least twice weekly tend to experience better general and mental health,” says Dr Lewis Elliott, also of the University of Exeter and BlueHealth. “Some of our research suggests around two hours a week is probably beneficial, across many sectors of society.” Even sea views have been associated with better mental health.
  3. Three established pathways by which the presence of water is positively related to health, well being and happiness. First, there are the beneficial environmental factors typical of aquatic environments, such as less polluted air and more sunlight. Second, people who live by water tend to be more physically active – not just with water sports, but walking and cycling. Third – and this is where blue space seems to have an edge over other natural environments – water has a psychologically restorative effect. Spending time in and around aquatic environments has consistently been shown to lead to significantly higher benefits, in inducing positive mood and reducing negative mood and stress, than green space does.
  4. That rumination – focusing on negative thoughts about one’s distress – is an established factor in depression. “What we find is that spending time walking on the beach, there’s a transition towards thinking outwards towards the environment, thinking about those patterns – putting your life in perspective."

Will we get to the point in which our physicians will write out "blue” or “green” prescriptions for us? I don't know, but it definitely seems like a great plan that could have long lasting health benefits!  


Blue spaces: why time spent near water is the secret of happiness:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/03/blue-space-living-near-water-good-secret-of-happiness

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