What you can do to help BRICKS for Young Adults have an awesome 2010

- Tell a friend about BRICKS. You never know who may have been affected by Young Adult Cancer.

- Share your story. If youre a young adult cancer survivor or patient, consider contributing your story to our cancer awareness booklet and resource guide, scheduled for release in March 2010.

- Come to an event. BRICKS has a lot of amazing stuff lined up for next year, be sure to check this blog or our facebook page often for updates.

- Visit the blog. BRICKSpgh.blogspot.com has been the place for listing resources and sharing stories as I journey through my first year as a young adult cancer widow.

- Consider making a donation. BRICKS appreciates every penny people have contributed to our start up this year.

- STAY HEALTHY. Nearly 70,000 young adults are diagnosed with cancer each year- talk to your doctor, know your body, and take care of yourself.


2009 has been a pretty rough year, lets look forward to doing good work and having much success in 2010. Bigger and better things are on the horizon, none of which would be possible without each and every one of you.

Fresh Widow

Thanks to my fancy blog stats tracker I can see where people are finding out about me, and kept seeing this "freshwidow" blog come up, which has a link to my blog, so I decided to check it out. Wow. WOW. What a lady. I have been reading backwards through the blog, and having a good time doing it. She too lost her husband to cancer, but didnt start blogging until much later. Now, theres this massive collection of posts about her journey over the last couple of years.

I was especially taken by the post Grieving: How We Survived the First Year+.. At 7 months in, I could really go down that list and check off all of the things I myself have been doing, and it made me feel a little more normal to know I wasnt the only one whose done these things, as good or bad as they may be.

The blog has lots of tips and ideas for friends of widows, and lots of things to laugh and cry about for those of us who are traveling the same road as Fresh. Her style and wit are evident in how she describes herself:

I identify as a young remarried widow and Mom to a 5-year-old. Our loss was in June 2006. I see widowhood as an experience, not a label. Loss is something you get through -- not over. "Closure" is so Hollywood. Some of us may turn lucky enough to use what we've been through as a springboard for revelation, renewal, or reinvention.

Enjoy.

"There are no rules for this"

It is with great pleasure that I inform you all that my second guest blog has been posted on Kairol Rosenthal's "Everything Changes" blog. Such a great resource for young adults with cancer (and their friends, and their families, and everyone else too), and I am really excited to be able to write about my new life as a widow and know that maybe I can reach someone in the process.

Please head on over and take a look, and feel free to leave comments here or on Kairol's blog.

Building resources = Sharing myself?

I know the blog posts have been a little scarce lately, and I have been, admittedly, distracted. I think thats fair for a new widow, dont you?

Either way, I think I got really caught up in needing to focus on my "mission statement" of connecting young adults with cancer to community resources that may be valuable to them, and forgot that I myself might actually be one of those resources. As a young adult cancer widow, I have something to offer others, and I think I lost sight of that in trying to concentrate my efforts on other aspects of BRICKS. The prospect of sharing my struggles with others is scary, but quite possibly necessary.

So, from here on out, I promise to find a better balance, to share what Im going through with those of you who are reading this. I know that there are people reading who I have no desire to disclose the intimate details of my life to, but I also know there are people who will benefit greatly from what I can give, and that far outweighs the other.

My friend Kairol, of whom I often speak, has asked me to guest write for her blog, Everything Changes, and I would encourage you to check there as well as here for my writings on my trials and triumphs as a young cancer widow. I promise you, dear readers, to be a little more giving of myself. When I married my husband, an artist, he cautioned me that he shared himself with the world. And although I certainly respected that concept before, I understand it now better than ever before, and strive to live by it as Rick did. I'll do my best.

For the love of Liz

In contemplating my own loss, and dealing with being a young widow, I have become painfully aware of a few things- people dont like to talk about the death of a young person, and there arent a lot of useful resources out there to help young adults who have lost their partners. Of course, there are all sorts of grief counseling options, but who's there to babysit your kid, make sure you can pay for groceries or dont default on your mortgage?

After the sudden passing of his wife, Liz, in 2008, Matthew Logelin tackled this very issue, and just this year the Liz Logelin Foundation was created. Their mission statement reads:

The Liz Logelin Foundation was established to assist families who find themselves in the heartbreaking, catastrophic situation of having lost a spouse, life-partner, and parent. The Foundation’s goal is to financially assist these families as they deal with the loss of their loved ones, and struggle to move forward.

To learn more about the Logelin family, or to find out how you can make a donation or apply for the financial assistance, visit their website. But just a word of caution- Matthew, Liz & baby Madeline's story is absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking, so prepare yourself! Be sure to visit Matt's amazing blog as well.