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

November 9, 2024

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2005. Mattie was three years old and that weekend, my lifetime friend, Karen, came down from NYC to visit with us. Karen was engaging and playing with Mattie. They built this tower of boxes together and of course Mattie decided to get up on our dining room table to both create this stackable but also to show all of us that he could be TALLER than the structure he just built. Since Karen teaches teenagers, she knows all about creative ways to get kids to apply themselves and participate in an activity. So happy I snapped a photo of them in that moment in time. 


Quote of the day: What is a God Wink? An event or personal experience, often identified as coincidence, so astonishing that it is seen as a sign of divine intervention, especially when perceived as the answer to a prayer.


It has been another winner of a day. However, tonight I opened up my e-mail and was introduced to Roxy! Years ago when I was looking to adopt a dog, I signed up on several sites to receive adoption information. Of course, I found my Sunny through Facebook of all places. But I still receive emails from a couple of adoption sites. 

Sometimes a dog's face just speaks to me! That is how I felt about Sunny! I knew I would love him, his photos spoke volumes to me. If my life looked different right now, if I had more financial and emotional stability, I would be putting in an application for Roxy. As I learned when I adopted Sunny..... I may have adopted him, but he saved me. He re-engaged me back into the world, and made me feel a part of something. There is nothing like the love of a dog. Sunny's presence and spirit are missed daily. 

My plan was to go grocery shopping this morning as soon as my dad's physical therapist arrived. However, before I left, I settled my mom in the family room, because she looked exhausted. I got her in a chair, legged propped up, a heating blanket on, and then I turned on the TV. That is when the chaos began. I couldn't get the cable box to work. I kept getting a VMS (Video Management System) troubleshooting error. 

Since I faced this same error on our main TV two weeks ago, I knew I had to try to reboot the box, unplug and then plug in chords. But then I realized I had to call Verizon, the problem was over my head. I was on the phone with Verizon for an hour. Poof, there went an hour from my life! Needless to say, Drew, the cable miracle worker, got the system working again. He introduced me to my VMS box in the house, showed me how to clean the coax cable and restart the system. This is the beauty of remote monitoring and a video phone call! 

After that issue, I ran out to go grocery shopping. I dislike shopping on a Saturday because stores are always crowded. But I had no other choice, as I couldn't go during the week. Because I know this store well, I zoom around from one aisle to the next. You truly don't want to get in my way when I am in this mood. Though self checkout has a maximum of 20 items, this store knows not to bother me, because I want to always do self check out and I always have more than 20 items. I have very little control in my life! Therefore, self checkout is one area I can control. I can control how things are bagged and I bag things in a logical way!

When I got home, I had to put groceries away, fold laundry, and then take my parent's out to lunch. We went to two different places. The first restaurant, I walked out of because it was too crowded and the person who typically serves us wasn't there! That may sound odd, but who waits on us, makes a big difference to our experience. The second restaurant, is getting to know us. I had a long conversation with the manager today, who is originally from Greece. He is only 28 years old and told me when he came to America, he landed in NYC. He couldn't afford living there, so was homeless for months. He described that experience and how he has now built a good life for himself. I love hearing these empowering stories!

For the past month, I have been watching Hallmark Christmas movies at night. The last time I was glued to Hallmark movies was when Mattie died. In fact, after his death, I could spend days in bed, just watching these movies. Why do I like Hallmark movies? Because there is always a moral message and there are NO unhappy endings. I have enough reality and pain in my life, therefore, I do not need to absorb it through my TV screen as well. 

Hallmark has a series of "God Wink" movies. As tonight's quote points out, a God Wink is a coincidence, but with divine intervention. The exact movie I saw was, A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love. What I particularly love about the God Wink movies is that they are based on true stories. I would love to be transported right into a Hallmark movie. Where the love between a husband and a wife, is real, honest, and built on trust, respect, and commitment. To me, when I met Peter in college, it felt like a God Wink. I may always remain disillusioned, confused, angry, and sad that my perceived strong, vital, and healthy marriage, was actually only viewed that way by me. 

The main characters in the movie are Alice and Jack. One of the things Alice is facing in the movie is a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. She did not want Jack to feel obligated to care for her, and therefore pushes him away. How they come back together is priceless, as he used big poster boards outside her apartment window to communicate to her. My point to this is, this is the kind of husband I thought I had. The kind that did not walk away under any circumstance. It is mortally wounding to know how wrong I was. 


Here is a link to the real Alice and Jack, who inspired this touching movie:

https://www.today.com/popculture/coincidence-love-first-sight-leads-amazing-reunion-after-50-years-2d79795750

No comments: