A dear friend of mine, Colleen, died on Friday after a fierce battle with liver cancer. This is not totally random, like John's illness—she had one of those awful auto-immune diseases that predisposes you to such. Bur she leaves two children, a 5-y-o daughter and a 2-y-o son. She was a big knitter, and was part of a group that sold stuff online called Tiny Lady Cooperative. Her friends in the knitting world are organizing an online auction to benefit her kids' college fund—it starts on October 28 [today!].
I didn't know Colleen, but I know the pain of loss to cancer. And I know how it feels to get help from the online community. After John died, many readers helped me out with donations of grocery and other gift cards to get me and the twins through those first awful months while we sorted through bureaucratic red tape and figured out how to navigate our lives without John. That support was invaluable to Maddie, Riley, and me.
I encourage you to check out the auction here. If you don't want to bid on anything, there is a place you can click just to make a donation.
Read more about Colleen here.
I hate cancer.
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11 comments:
I have tears in my eyes. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping us promote this auction.
Shelley (who made the request)
Cancer sucks. A friend of mine left behind a husband, a 6 year old, a 4 year old, and two year old twin boys. She was 33. I will be donating.
ugh. that poor family. i was looking over the info you linked to and found Colleen's blog. how heart breaking.
It's a small world, I just read about Colleen on Ravelry, a knit and crochet website. I was reading her blog last night, the whole thing is terrible.
I always feel so silly and frivilous when i read your blog. It's not fair you have been through so much. I wish I could somehow take on some of it for you. Thank you for bringing this story to us. It would be an honor to help.
I can't talk about it on my blog, but my grandpa had a biopsy for lung cancer and it collapsed his lung. While in ICU, they found stage 4 liver cancer and bone cancer... and confirmed the lung cancer.
I know he's older but still, I really hate cancer. Particularly this week. I'll be donating.
My husband and I went out for dinner tonight and there was a huge table of ladies wearing pink - it was Mary's 5th year anniversary free from breast cancer. There were at least 20 women there supporting her as well as a huge poster board, balloons, and display. It was such a touching thing to see the strength she had after all she'd endured, and the people who supported her. It's lovely of you to support Colleen, too.
Thanks for the link. I do hate death in it's many forms. So hard.
Catching up after some busy days. Glad you're all doing well!
Thank you so much for including this in your blog! Colleen was one of my closest friends, and I'm one of the ones helping run this event. So it really means alot to me that you'd help spread the word. We want to do so much for the kids. Also, I want to thank you for sharing your experiences in your blog. Why? Well, I spoke to Colleen on the phone several times after she was told the final news. When we talked, she would never be upset when she talked about what was happening to her. All she cared about, all that upset her, was the fact that she was leaving her kids w/o their mother. It was so heartbreaking. So your perspective gives me some hope.
I, too receive help from the on-line community when John was sick and after he died. It was invaluable. I will be checking out the auction.
I don't know how our hearts can stand to lose people like Colleen in ths world. I read her blog, and although I do not know her, my heart lost a piece for her and her family. My love goes out to them. `
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