Mattie Miracle 15th Anniversary Video

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

August 8, 2020

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken on August 1, 2008, ten days after we learned about Mattie's diagnosis. Honestly at that point, none of us knew if we were coming or going. While in the outpatient clinic, Mattie quickly became buddies with the art therapists and the art table. Thankfully as Jenny and Jessie were life savers for all of us, and art became the productive and therapeutic diversion during our 14 months of hospitalization. 


Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins
  • number of people diagnosed with the virus: 4,994,276
  • number of people who died from the virus: 162,381


I woke up this morning to some photos of Miss Indie in Boston. Indie absolutely loves sinks. You can leave her with a bowl of water, but she would much prefer getting you to turn on the sink so she could get water on the tap!




Typically when I go to Boston with Peter, Indie hides for days under a bed. As it takes her a while to adjust to her new surroundings. But Indie has gotten her brave on and is roaming around the house and making herself comfortable!







Cats and window sills!























Miss curiosity! Thinks a napkin is a bird! 
























Meanwhile, Sunny loves to visit Boston. It is like going to summer camp. He gets a lot of backyard time, to watch birds, and look for squirrels and chipmunks!

After a busy day of exploring, every good boy needs a nap!


Meanwhile, out in LA...... My days start at 6:15am, so that I can get showered, dressed, and make breakfast before the caregiver comes at 8am. 

At 8am, the weekend caregiver arrived and she heard about our weekly caregiver who quit to take another job which is offering her more work hours. I have to say I am not as angry as I was when I first heard the news about this woman leaving. Yet I have put my dad's other two caregivers on notice, that I would like to know if they are planning on leaving. Just when things were getting stabilized with care, everything once again fallen apart. I gave today's caregiver a lecture. As she says the caregiver must follow the company's policy which dictates that if a caregiver is planning to leave a job she must first alert the company and then the company alerts the client. Perhaps that is the policy, but there is a difference between policy and ethical behavior. 

Caregiving is not like your typical job! These individuals work in homes and with vulnerable people. When families invite these folks in, we are expecting them to be trustworthy and because we see them daily, a certain level of rapport and friendship forms. Therefore, if the policy is that a caregiver alerts the agency about leaving employment, the caregiver should also have the decency to let the family know of this decision. As our relationship is with the caregiver NOT the agency. It would give the family the opportunity to discuss to have some closure about the departure. 

No comments: