Mattie's Blog and his Fight Against Osteosarcoma

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to me that you take the time to write and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful and help support me through very challenging times. I am 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 have stopped writing on September 9, 2010. However, like my journey with grief there is so much that 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 me, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.

As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki

May 19, 2020

Tuesday, May, 19, 2020

Tuesday, May 19, 2020 -- Mattie died 555 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken during Memorial Day weekend of 2006. We took Mattie up to Pennsylvania to experience Sesame Street place. On our drive up, we stopped at an incredible aquarium in New Jersey. Across the Delaware River, you could see Pennsylvania. Mattie had a wonderful adventure that day.

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

number of people diagnosed with the virus: 1,525,367
number of people who died from the virus: 91,661

We received a countless number of photos on Sunday. I tried to keep track of what states were being represented. Here is a small sample of the amazing people walking with us on May 17th.

First up, is my mom in California!
She walked 12,743 steps!

Here is my lifetime friend, Karen. Walking in NY. She added an additional 9,556 steps to our overall walk count!

This is Brian and Katy in NY. We had 415 walkers and 106 of these participants tracked their steps.

These are the Henshaws walking with us in Colorado.

Maureen, walking with us from PA. She clocked in at 8,000 steps.

This is Anne and Bill in South Carolina. They walked 8,630 and 8,663.

This is Barbara, Peter's mom in Massachusetts.

This is Helen, walking with us in Quincy, MA. Helen walked 13,337 steps.

The McCarrons in Massachusetts. 15,066 steps!

The Miller Family in New Jersey.
Zach: 13,182 steps,
Gary: 12,348 steps
Lisa: 9,138 steps

The Smith Family.... representing Michigan, Massachusetts, and Colorado.
Maria: 24,213 steps
Julia: 13,006 steps

The Lindbergs in Maryland. The Lindbergs are like us, they lost their only child to cancer. They run the EVAN Foundation in their son's memory and we have great respect for each other.