You might remember me posting here about my friendship with a lovely lady by the name of Beth who had asked for some cancer themed doodles for the cards and journal she was working on while she underwent various anti-cancer treatments. We chatted and emailed and PM’d and these doodles were the final result:

 Click here to download: Beth’s Belief

(The original blog post, including a couple of Beth’s cards can be found here).

Tragically, less than 6 months after I created these doodles Beth lost her fight with cancer. We had kept in touch, exchanging emails and layouts, PM’s and memories and we had a lovely cyber friendship that I hold very dear. I had never met her, never even spoken to her on the phone but she touched my heart very deeply and I miss her very much. A few months after Beth passed away our next-door neighbour also lost her battle with cancer. Tracey was a fun and bubbly character, the same age as me and her youngest son is in the same class at school as my daughter. In their memory, last year I donned a very fetching tutu and took part in Race for Life to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

Since then, this dreadful disease has touched more amazing women in my life, both in my own family and in the Lilypad family (you can read about Pollywog Melissa’s story and marvel at her utterly beautiful photography on her blog Life as a Lewis).

Race for Life 2012

Overwhelmed by the need to DO something again following this news, I signed myself and my daughter up for Race For Life, grabbed some pink fluffy deely boppers, face paints and a child sized tutu and wings (she had laughed at me in a tutu so much last time I wanted to get my own back – ha ha!). The rain held off this year (more or less!) and we completed our 5K together:

There was a trail of pink fluff and sequins left through the forest, I suspect dog walkers and joggers will be finding traces of Race for Lifers for the next few months!

After Race for Life, I still felt the need to do more. To push myself further and to physically do more to raise more funds for those suffering from cancer. Being a friend or a relative of someone battling this awful disease can leave you with a dreadful sense of uselessness and I looked around for something more challenging. And I found it.

The Midnight Walk 2012

Next weekend I will be taking part in The Midnight Walk – a 13.1 mile (21km) walk through the night to raise funds for my local hospice, St Luke’s. I know this is going to be tough. Very tough. A friend of mine did the same walk a few years ago and vowed to never, ever do it again. Ever. *gulp* So, as you can imagine, I am rather nervous.

I had a truly amazing response last year when I blogged about my fundraising for Race For Life. If you have ever downloaded any of my freebies, or if the sight of me in bunches and a fluffy deely boppers has made you smile, or if the thought of me walking 13 miles through the night has made you question my sanity (and believe me, you wouldn’t be alone in that thought) then I hope you might consider making a donation. I have two different sponsorship pages, one for Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK and one for The Midnight Walk in aid of St Luke’s Hospice – both are run by the Just Giving organisation so a currency converter might be helpful if you are outside the UK. Thank you for anything you are able to give, however small.

For Beth, Tracey, Sally and Melissa xxxxx