That’s my friend Crystal Violante (formerly Crystal Hehr) - and the headline sadly speaks for itself. Here’s the article that ran with it recently.

There was also a story that ran in the Calgary Sun that was basically the same (24 Hours is a Sun publication), and an online version. Crystal is a vivacious, wonderful woman who gave birth to a beautiful daughter (Mattea) then was told she had terminal cancer only a few months later. Her friends have rallied around her, creating a Web site, a blog, and a trust fund to help them with their daily expenses. Crystal’s husband Tony isn’t working because he has to care for her and his daughter, so any funds you can donate to help them out would be greatly appreciated by them and by myself.

There really aren’t words to express how much it sucks to watch one of your friends, someone you love, be slowly taken by cancer. It hurts.

As of a month ago, the only future trip I had planned was going to Japan with Ashley in March - and now that’s tripled. In a couple of weeks I’m going to be heading to New York for a Microsoft event, then in November I’m heading to the next Mobius event…this time it’s in Amsterdam! Last year it was Thailand, which was incredible, and now it’s in a part of Europe I’ve never been to. Ashley will be coming with me (Microsoft pays for one ticket, I’ll pay for the other) and we’re arriving a few days early to get adjusted before the conference starts. What’s going to be cool is that there are a few Thoughts Media team members in the NYC area that I haven’t met in person before, and an ex-team member happens to live in The Netherlands, so I’m hoping to be able to connect with him as well. It’s going to be a fun couple of months!