A Tale of Yellow

Thanks to everyone who so generously contributed their heart-wrenching stories, thoughts, time and remembrances for LIVESTRONG Day 2009. I want to send everyone a token of appreciation. If you want a LIVESTRONG rubber bracelet, let me know by emailing your address and I'll send one out (email is on blog). I have to order more than I have though that should not be a problem unless the LIVESTRONG Army ran out of them last week. I still have other give-aways to award that are not yellow rubber bracelets. I will put every contributor's name in the chemo hat and we will draw names and notify the winners.

Below I compiled all the contributor posts of which I am aware. I'd like to support LIVESTRONG Day again next year similarly though it would be great to have more people involved. Maybe we can join with the food bloggers and double our efforts. Maybe plan on raising funds in honor of the day.

Bloggers who contributed posts/or stories:

Reb writes about the struggle with her own cancer. Miz wrote about our friendship, saying some very kind things. Pubsgal writes about people who've survived, people she knows who have cancer, and remembers her friends and relatives who've died. My UK friend Sandhy writes about her own horrific ovarian cancer diagnosis. Trish told us about that she has friends and now family with cancer. Crabby over at Crankyfitness talked about why she hates cancer in a very funny though poignant post. Irene entitled her post It's all about the Yellow. She is a 11 year survivor of ovarian cancer!

Lee over at Journey to Fitville wrote about Karen having leukemia. Being a big time read (and a former book store owner) Lee offers suggestions for books about the cancer experience. She went on to say that one day she's going to suggest my book. Thanks, Lee. I better get on that. ;-) I need to read The Mercy Papers.

Karen wrote about her own cancer experience and how she found strength and an attitude she did not know she had previously. Amy wrote about her aunt and her sister. Her aunt died at age 39 (!) of breast cancer while thankfully her sister is still alive. Sassy Stephanie not only raises money and awareness for multiple sclerosis but watched her own husband undergo cancer treatment this past year. Shelley wrote about her beautiful grandmother, Maggie, and posted some lovely photos of same, while Kim wrote about her granddaddy and his battle with the disease.

The Baglady wrote about her mother, and her sisters who died from cancer except thankfully dear Reb is with us. (Reb is mentioned above.) Roxie over at Gravel and Rust wrote her own cervical cancer diagnosis and how she was inspired to get healthier post cancer. P/F wrote about her son's birthday, health care, and a friend she went to school with who had melanoma. (Plus she posted a picture of some wonderful cupcakes!) Workout Mommy graciously took up the challenge doing some much needed fundraising for LIVESTRONG. She took that ball and ran...

Pam is a food blogger writing over at Lobster and Fishsticks. She posted a recipe for a yummy Thai-Spiced Limabean dip - the color yellow to honor the day with A Taste of Yellow. Happyfunpants wrote about a few people in her life who've been affected by cancer and let her readers know that "cancer can suck it." Jody at Truth2beingFit wrote about LIVESTRONG Day as well as several people she knows who have been affected by cancer.

CJ lives just over the hill from my house. She writes at Shopping Karma and tells us about the day she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She is only 39. There should be a law against that! FitJerk stopped by for the first time (as far as I'm aware). He had written a post about spreading the word about the promotion for LIVESTRONG Day. Thanks, FitJerk! (JERK?)

Over at The Great Fitness Experiment, Charlotte (who also writes for HuffPo) wrote a lovely remembrance of her grandfather and included several other relatives who had cancer in her tribute.

Some people stopped by well-wishes and to thank us for considering the project. Thanks to everyone who commented -- Dr. J, Messymimi, Diane, Dinneen, Leah, AnnieLaurel, Fitarella, Lisa, TB, Kris, Ashwee and Barbara. I was stunned by the amount of page traffic though people aren't always in the mood to talk about cancer. It takes courage to face cancer and to face the sadness that comes with illness in general.

Through the experience I have new Facebook friends including Clown Noses for Cancer, and Twitter friends including LIVESTRONG and someone with the last name of Armstrong following me on Twitter. Now if I could only think of something twitty to say.

My heart is filled from this experience and I am grateful for all the support, and I am definitely feeling the love for the LIVESTRONG folks. And don't forget to sign the Healthcare reform petition at Livestrong.org

I'd like to encourage you to visit Barbara (she has her own cancer story) at winosandfoodies.com (I love me some food blogs!) and check out her efforts in promoting LIVESTRONG Day with the yearly A Taste of Yellow . She's been doing this for years! People contribute recipes from all over the world for a Taste of Yellow and some of the recipes look really yummy.

If there are people who posted blogs about cancer that you are aware of that you think need to be listed here, please send the urls.

Again, thanks so much for your kindness, generosity and spirit. Your contributions helped make LIVESTRONG Day a success.

P.S. We made page 2 of the LIVESTRONG Army flickr page with the photo of my nephew and his friend. And we made the front page of the montage on their blog. # 6 down on the right side.