Natural Crafter

ok so a few things to start off the weekend....i am updating the blogs i like to go visiting so if you want to meet some cool chicas with great stuff, then pls go check them out!

also i got a super nice email from Colleen who is managing the fundraising for the ladies running the marathon for Leukemia/Lymphoma...sending her thanks and mentioning my blog and lo's etc...very nice words, girl...thanks...

I don't know if anyone has ever lost anyone to these diseases, or any other for that matter, but these girls are doing something for a good cause. I lost one of my best friends my senior year in college on December 7. I will never forget getting the call from Becky at 4am with the news that Nat had lost her battle with Leukemia. She had just come to visit me that summer in Boulder, CO on her way back to San Diego to gather the rest of her things to move back to PA permanently. She had finally shaved her hair, a decision that was very hard for her as she had this crazy curly hair down to her but since I knew her.

I remember getting the letter from her just two years before in my dorm and reading that she hasn't been feeling well...tired..sick...rundown ~not like Nat at all~ and she went to the doctor for blood work and they found it. She was going to have to do lots of treatments but she wasn't giving up. From listening to her and seeing her, I knew it was serious and we were so young...only 19 years old...

Anyway, her and Ted (my freshman formal date, LOL) stayed for a few days in Boulder and we had a good time. The one thing we never talked about was her disease, we talked about the people she met along the way at the hospital, some that lost their battle and some that were in remission. It was a short visit, much shorter when I realized it was the last time I would see her. She was a terrific and passionate friend, something that I learned from her. I also learned from her to celebrate life...she would not have wanted us to sit around and cry for her but to live for her, that I do know. So tonight at my girls night out, I will raise a toast to her and to life, as precious as it is.

The funny thing about all this is I have a matchbook from Nat that has her info when she moved to San Diego...it was the only thing I could find to write on at the time and I have saved it ever since. I keep it one of my bins with my scrapbooking stuff so when I go digging for inspiration I find it. So when I heard some scrapbooking ladies needed some support, I knew it was the least I could do.

PEACE to everyone and don't forget to remember the Earth! Every day should be earth day, not just April 22nd.