I am so lucky

I'm not a religious person, or even much of a spiritual person. I don't really pray and I question the presence of a supreme being. I don't believe in fate or predetermined futures. What I do believe in is a sort of energy that we give out, a mental sort of flow with good or bad intent. I think that thoughts have power. I believe in a type of karma and the three-fold rule that if you do bad or evil it will rebound onto you; I believe the reverse also that if you do good it will spread to others and make your own life good. With all that, I know that evil men live full happy lives while good people suffer through needless tragedies.

I have somehow been blessed with friends. I have my sis who is my best buddy, my first and dearest friend. I have two old friends that I treasure, one from college and one from my past married life. I have a new group of friends, women who share my interests, women who are caring and loving and giving to others. Women who will take time from their busy lives to create a symbol of healing and hope and love, just because they can. Women who get together and laugh and cry (and drink way too much wine) and talk into the evening.

I credit Team in Training, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, for introducing me to these new friends. Each of us has been involved with TnT for a long time, each of us had our own reason for raising funds for the L&LS. We have all lost loved ones to leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma, even if we've met those loved ones through TnT. We are all ages, all ethnic backgrounds, all religions, all sizes. We're single, married, with and without children and extended families.

We have in common running and knitting and eating and drinking and a deep wish that our friends and families will not be affected by cancer. We believe that there will be a cure, or treatment that isn't as deadly as the disease itself. We share a hope for the future.

Thank you, all of you, for being my friends.