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 20, 2019

Friday, December 20, 2019

Friday, December 20, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. Mattie was a year and a half old and sitting still for a photo wasn't his forte. So I got the idea of dressing him in a Christmas sweater and taking him to Lowe's. Mattie tolerated three stores.... Lowe's, Home Depot, and Target. So we put him in a shopping cart and wheeled him around the Christmas displays at Lowe's. This caught his attention long enough for us to snap photos. This photo was on the cover of our 2003 Christmas card. 


Quote of the day: The journey, not the arrival matters. T.S. Eliot

Embarkation day for a cruise ship is always a bit stressful. However, Fort Lauderdale is super organized and were very customer focused. They couldn't be more helpful with my dad as they understood he needed a wheelchair and that we all needed to stay together. A night and day experience from our Canada cruise in August. 


In port this morning were 6 large cruise ships. Keep in mind that many of these ships carry over 3,000 passengers. So do the math..... 18,000 people coming off and 18,000 people coming onto the ships in ONE day!!! It is remarkable how Fort Lauderdale pulls this off so efficiently. This photo was taken from our hotel room this morning. It was cloudy and very windy. 
The beauty of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. I love that drawbridge in the background. Mattie LOVED drawbridges and I can't see one without thinking of him. 
This Celebrity Cruise Ship departed before us. It is truly amazing to think that such a large vessel floats and carries people from one location to the next. Cruise ships have become the destination for so many people. As it is truly like visiting a city filled with people from all around the world (I am not kidding, because the ship's crew are literally from all around our globe), art, food, and entertainment. 

Why did I take a photo of this Fort Lauderdale condo? The unit with the light on catches my attention at each sail away! Why? Because the man inside the condo rings a COW bell each time a cruise ship departs from port. I absolutely look forward to his cow bell ringing on his balcony and I always wave!
We are on the 15th floor of this cruise ship. Typically we get a cabin in the center of the ship, which is the most 
stable. However, this time we are high up and also in the front of the ship. I feel like we are bouncing around in the water like a cork tonight. 

I took a photo of our cabin because to me it is the size of a postage stamp. 
In comparison to the bathroom, the room is a palace. The size of the shower looks like a very small phone booth. Something to look forward to tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I am still under the weather and trying to heal naturally, but it may not happen!

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