" A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes...."

....and they come back to us as effects."  -- Herman Melville

Above, walking over the finish line of the 3 Day Walk in 2008 with three of my favorite survivors in the whole world: to my left, Mary Jo; with Ginny and Carol to my right.   I'm the one pointing at my husband behind the camera. I remember the sheer exuberance of the moment, the pride of the effort.  I pulled that picture out tonight to remind myself that we do make progress.

So much cancer around us all, despite all our walking, all the research, all the effort --  this past spring saw two friends die of pancreatic cancer.  I spent four hours with my friend Sabine, a brain cancer survivor, while in Austin.  She has beat all the statistics.  This afternoon, Valerie who has cut my hair for 12 years, told me that her partner of 12 years died of colon cancer last month, having been diagnosed in 2007.  And tonight, a note from Penny, asking for us to remember Jennine,  a Kindred Spirit team member who is having brain surgery on Thursday morning. It's so much to think about, to hold those folks close in our thoughts.

We are all connected.  For every bit of progress, it often seems there seems a corresponding loss. I know technically that cannot possibly be true when I look at the team itself:  survivors and supporters both.   Penny, herself a survivor of both cervical and uterine cancer, is testament to the miracle of early detection and cutting edge treatments.  Or Mary Jo.  Or Ginny.  Or Carol. From this effort and the dream of a world without cancer, we are all connected.

Please keep Jennine in your thoughts on Thursday morning.  If you want to read her own words, check out her blog, which her mother will keep up during her recuperation.  It is

http://j9sblog.wordpress.com.