This myspace account is dedicated to all the people who have somehow been touched by the poetry written by Mattie JT Stepanek. But more importantly to Mattie himself for teaching so many people to 'play after every storm.' A quote that is becoming a proverb, a quote that has changed more lives in it's short existence and will continue to change more with years to come, a quote that shows the wisdom of a young boy, wisdom that most of us will never be able to comprehend.
Mattie Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek was born July 17, 1990 with a neuro-muscualar disease, the same disease that had already claimed the lives of his older sister Katie and his older brother Stevie (a few years later also took the life of Jamie, Mattie's closest brother in age). None of the doctors knew that Mattie or his three older siblings had this disease until after they were born. Mattie's mother is suffering from the adult form of this disease to this day.
When Mattie was about five years old, he began referring to his poetry as his Heartsongs. Around that same time he told a reporter that his life philospohy was to 'play after every storm'. By reading his works, you can tell that that is exactly what he did.
Although many agree that Mattie's poetry is more like the stories of a Mattie life, they hold the key to life that we know as children but lose as we grow, they teach us how to live each day even when we are in pain, they remind us the importance in loving one another and ourselves.
This Myspace account is NOT related to the MDA in anyway. This Myspace account is NOT created to any relatives of Mattie Stepanek. It is simply in memory of him
