Peace and Pekoe
For years now, I’ve belonged to an online forum that has become a true on-and-offline community. Through this forum, I have sent and received “random acts of kindness” in the form of small gifts and surprises through the mail. Once, my husband made a tiny casket for a forum member, someone I’d never met in person, whose child was stillborn. When I was struggling to pay bills, I was helped through the Helping Hands fund this community maintained for members in need. Over the years, forum members have come together to help women leave abusive situations, assist members through illness or disaster, and help grieving members through the loss of a child, spouse, or parent.
This fundraiser is to benefit my friend Natalie. She’s the mother of six children, ages 19-7, and her military husband is on the deploy list for 2016.
Natalie was diagnosed with breast cancer and recently had a double mastectomy. She was reassured by the doctor about any doubts she may have had about the decision to have the double procedure (with cancer on only one side) when she tested positive for a gene called CHEK2. This gene is associated with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), which is a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome. Breast cancer is among the most common cancer types found in families with this syndrome.
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