A close childhood friend of mine was recently diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. Shock and heartbreak doesn’t begin to cover it.

Jenessa is one of the most awesome, kickass people I’ve ever known. Seriously. She’s a teacher at the Jewish day school where we grew up together. She’s got two adorable, young redheads and a kind husband. And she was a gestational surrogate for twins and wrote a wonderful blog about it called Womb for Hire. She’s a mensch.

Mini trampoline fun, Me and Jenessa (age 3)

This gorgeous, witty woman is now raising awareness with the hashtag #MyKishkesWantToKillMe. She’s sharing her deeply moving, vulnerable, and funny account of colon cancer on a blog called Semicolon, Not Full Stop — When life gives you cancer, make a punctuation pun. Jenessa has written about what chemo involves, finding silver linings, and why we should all talk about poop more and lose the shame.

Camping in Tiburon, Jenessa and me (age 10)

Our Team Jenessa wristbands arrived in the mail today. Jenessa’s brother made them and donations are going to Colon Cancer Alliance. We are honored to support Team Jenessa and colon cancer awareness. This terrible disease runs in our family as well. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jenessa and her family. Please include my dear, sweet friend in your prayers. And check out her brilliant blog!

Today’s #OneGoodThing was the arrival of our Team Jenessa wristbands!

Day 130 of 365. And Day 496 in a row!

1 year ago today: Surprising spring lovelies

What was your #OneGoodThing today? Please share in the comments!