Blogging for a Cure

I was sitting in church yesterday as our pastor was reading names of prayer concerns. Recently there seems to be quite a few names of those who are battling cancer, battling its vicious spread despite even amputations, miraculously recovering and, for some, miraculously passing. I suddenly had a memory of the first person I ever knew to die of cancer. Her name was Sherry Nicholson and she was our church's youth music director. She died when I was maybe 7 or 8. I remember watching her husband and her two kids, my friends, at the "Celebration of Life" party we had at church in her memory. We, the kids, sang a song, and I have never felt so helpless and guilty for wanting to "celebrate" a life while her kids just stared at the floor. As is the way with this disease, Mrs. Nicholson would be the first of many victims and survivors with which I had/have a personal connection.

The fantastic and fervent duo at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast sent out an All Points Bulletin to bloggers to rally in spreading the word for fundraising efforts for Robert's Snow: for Cancer's Cure. This is headed by author Grace Lin whose husband recently died due to cancer. The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute published a book in 2005 with beautiful illustrator-designed snowflakes. The proceeds from auctioning these snowflakes went directly to the Institute and they are ready to do it again. As a thanks and getting the word out on the contributing snowflake-illustrators, 7-Imp will be compiling a massive list (there's over 200 illustrators!) of illustrator interviews hosted in the kidlitblogsophere. Stay tuned for the run-down over at 7-Imp. I'm still deciding if I can commit to an interview. Anyone want to tag team with me?

In the meantime, please visit 7-Imp, read, learn, share, buy snowflakes, change the world.