I’ve been blogging since 2002, and even though I’m taking a (necessary) break from posting regularly, I still think of myself as a blogger. It’s been an amazing sixteen years that has brought me and my family incredible experiences, but the thing I will ALWAYS value the most is the relationships I’ve made. If it wasn’t for those relationships, we never would have had so much support when Maddie died. Our friends (both IRL and virtual) rallied around us and carried us when we couldn’t stand.

One of those friends was Rebecca Woolf. Bec and I met at a local blogger even in LA when Maddie was a baby and she was pregnant with her oldest daughter, Fable. Becca and her husband, Hal, were there for us when Maddie passed away. In the years we’ve been friends, Becca and Hal added twin daughters to their family (bringing their total to three girls and a boy), while Mike and I added Annie and James. Bec wrote beautifully and honestly about their lives in LA, and I felt lucky to call her my friend.

Yesterday, four months after being diagnosed, Hal died of pancreatic cancer. To say I’m devastated for them is an understatement. Hal was an amazing person, but an even more amazing father. His four kids will now grow up without their dad’s tremendous presence, and it’s so unfair. Bec will now go through life without her partner, and I just cannot imagine how overwhelmed with sorrow she must be today. My heart is broken for my friend and her beautiful family. Some friends started a GoFundMe to help with their expenses, because no one should have to worry about how to pay their bills when they’re burying their spouse.

Cancer is the worst thing ever.

Around The ‘Net

~Guns in America

~‘Mama bear instinct’: Mom credited for helping foil potential school shootings

~His Body Was Behind the Wheel for a Week Before It Was Discovered. This Was His Life.

~‘My identity is accepted here’: Inside Starbucks’s first U.S. sign language store

~A Rare Dalí Painting Once Hung at Rikers Island—Until the Guards Decided to Steal It

~After 9/11 hero succumbs to cancer, kids further legacy in viral ‘Shark Tank’ pitch

~He won Powerball’s $314 million jackpot. It ruined his life.

~A Town in Constant Recovery

~Grieving mom’s heartwarming act of kindness at Florida Publix goes viral

~Who Wants to Live Forever?

~Scenes from the new Cold War unfolding at the top of the world

~It started as an online gaming prank. Then it turned deadly

~Scientists have estimated the cost of stopping 11 diseases that could kill millions in a pandemic

~What is Harvard trying to hide?

~What it’s like to survive a failed space launch, from a first-time astronaut who did

The world is so sad today. Here’s a cute baby picture to make you smile:

Happy Sunday, everyone.