thank you, friend.

Last Friday night, the world lost a truly beautiful soul to a particularly deadly form a breast cancer that kills younger women.  My friend wasn’t even 40.  She was one of those really good people who just want to live and never waste a minute of their lives.  She had cancer for two years, but she lived a lot more in those two years than most.  Including, probably, me.

When she got sick, she started a secret Facebook group–that she deemed her fan club.  It was a place for her to share her wins and her losses–to ask for what she needed and to receive love.  Every single day, I was greeted to updates from her other friends and family.  Every day, it inspired me.  Since her death, it’s continued.  Every day, all day long.  Only now–instead of encouraging words–it’s memories of our fearless friend who loved to dance and drink margaritas.  It’s been this warm comforting blanket to hold on to and a place to love people we barely know.

As sad as I am about her death–this community of souls who all loved her–who all rooted for her–gives me hope.  I’ll admit I’ve had my moments of writing off humanity in recent years.  The shootings in South Carolina surely would have sent me spiraling.  But, instead, this week–I held on to that core belief of mine that people are essentially good and that life is worth living.