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

May 11, 2020

Monday, May 11, 2020

Monday, May 11, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken on Mother's Day in May of 2005. That day we took Mattie to the Aquatic Gardens in DC. Another favorite spot of ours. It is a park off the beaten track, but once you walk through the gates, it is a magical place. Filled with water lilies, lotuses, and countless birds. Peter took a photo of us together, and you may notice I had to hold Mattie still, because he was my boy in constant motion. He had two modes... on and off. 


Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins

  • number of people diagnosed with the virus: 1,347,388
  • number of people who died from the virus: 80,397



Here are the latest Mattie Miracle Virtual Walk Facts:


  1. 250 people registered
  2. 47 states represented (missing Nebraska, North Dakota, and Alaska)
  3. raised $81,305 so far
  4. 319 individual donations
  5. 30 Walk Sponsors
  6. 16 Walk teams



An added dimension to the complexity of planning for the walk this year is the technology we need to use to do live greetings on social media. We have tried different platforms and each of them has problems. My favorite problem was that you while we were talking we could see our lips moving, but the sound came out seconds later. A total mismatch. It was funny to watch, but not the look we were hoping for. So we decided to use Facebook Live to do a greeting on Sunday and to also use it to announce our raffle winners in real time.  

Meanwhile, my morning started by going to the hospital to have my yearly mammogram. Virginia has opened its hospitals to non-emergent matters. I don't like missing a mammogram, especially after many moms (whose children had osteosarcoma) told me there is a high correlation between children with bone cancer and moms developing breast cancer. So virus or no virus, I was going today. When I tell you the hospital was a ghost town, I am not kidding. I think I see more people at the grocery store than I saw today at the hospital. I literally saw 5 people in total! As soon as I entered the hospital, the entrance was controlled with roped off lanes and greeters. Basically you aren't getting in until you get your temperature checked and they know where you are going and why. I came in with a mask, but they gave me a second one to put on top of my mask. I frankly could hardly breath and the hospital mask kept migrating into my eyes. I am not in love with masks and frankly I am not sure they do what they are purported to do. All I know is when you wear a mask you land up touching your face far more often than with no mask, and face touching is a number one way to spread germs. Needless to say, I was at the hospital a total of thirty minutes, because with few patients needing service, things moved quickly. 

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