Friends,
A quick frontpage note to let you all know that when my dad and I run the Big Sur Marathon at the end of April, we’ll be doing so to raise money for the Teal Foundation. This was a sort of late decision (“why not see if we can do some good while we do this thing,” was essentially the pitch), but we were inspired by my sister Kat and her husband Brian, who took on the Teal Walk in 2021 to raise money in support of better diagnosis of ovarian cancer, which disease’s late diagnosis is one of the many literal fatalities of our culture’s refusal to prioritize the health of women or invest in reproductive health.
As y’all likely know if you know me well enough to be a reader here, Kat was herself diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2020, and after surgery and chemotherapy she was given a no-evidence-of-disease pronouncement that all-too-quickly fell to a recurrence. She is doing outlandishly well under the frankly-unimaginable circumstances, working through indefinite rounds of chemo and immunotherapy, and (have I mentioned I admire and love her to the ends of the earth and back?) has been a vocal and engaged advocate on this issue, as she has so many others in her cheerfully morally engaged life.
All this is to say, while there are obviously many causes worth donating to (hey, check the sidebar on the frontpage here!) and many organizations doing great work, if you’d consider throwing some cash to the Teal folks, I would consider that a great and mighty kindness. When I collapse at mile three of the marathon (“I didn’t know there’d be so many hilllllls” I’ll whimper) I will collapse with your name on my lips and in my heart.
Thanks as always for being your goodhearted selves. Whether you can pitch in on this one or not, I remain stupid-lucky to have you all in my lives! Let’s live like we know we only have one chance to love each other properly in this life!
