Mattie

In 2001, a young boy by the name of Mattie came to visit Oprah. Mattie was born with a serious muscle condition were he is confined to a wheel chair, needs an air tank and has to deal with a great deal of muscle pain. Matties mom also has the same condition but did not develop it after the birth of her children. She had 4 children; Jamie whom passed away at age 4, Katie whom only made it to age 2, Stevie whome passed away at the short age of 6 months and then Mattie. Mattie had 3 wishes in life; to have his books published, to talk to Jimmy Carter and to meet with Oprah. Mattie told Oprah that he was hopeful for something bigger than himself, which is a lot coming from an 11 year old boy. People had asked him why he did not want to go on a trip to Disneyland or somewhere and he simply explained that at the life it will be fun, but his wishes will last a life time. Mattie wrote many poems, stories and songs, called them 'Heart Messages' he said that the message in the heart poems came from heart songs, which were just simply songs from the heart. Mattie told Oprah that he always tried to look for the best in everyone and he lived by the quote of "play after every storm." In June, after his appearance on the show Mattie passed away, his goal was to be a peace maker and a hero which he most deffinately became.