It was only a matter of time before we saw this headline:

Patrick Swayze, star of Dirty Dancing and Ghost, dead of pancreatic cancer at age 57.

A few years back, I had the opportunity to walk with my family in a 5k to raise money for pancreatic cancer research. Now, at the three breast cancer walks I’ve participated in, there are many survivors. In fact, during the closing ceremonies of the Komen 3 Day, the survivors come in at the end and stand in the center and all of the walkers applaud for them. At the pancreatic cancer walk, there was one survivor…maybe two? The disease often goes undetected for months, so that when it finally is discovered that someone has pancreatic cancer, it’s often too late to do anything. I knew that when Patrick Swayze was diagnosed that this wouldn’t end well, and frankly I’m surprised and amazed he hung in there this long.

I hope now that a celebrity from *my era* has given this disease such a public face that pancreatic cancer will begin to see the research dollars it so desperately needs to up the survival rate for this disease. If you’re interested in supporting a great cause, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network would be most appreciative of your time, talent, or monetary donations.

Rest in Peace Patrick.

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I’ve come pretty close to logging in here and posting an entry about the events of the past 2 weeks numerous times…but couldn’t put my heart into it. I’ll just say that losing a friend is tough at any age, but it is especially tough when that friend is young and so are you.

When I get sad, I love to escape to the magical world of television. People are usually dealing with more difficult situations and bigger problems in TV Land, and it’s a marvelous escape from reality – I highly recommend it. So over the past 2 weeks I’ve watched:

• Watched Tropic Thunder. Hated it.
• Watched Sense & Sensibility. Enjoyed it.
• Currently watching Brokeback Mountain…for the 2nd time.
• Watched every episode of Hung using HBO on Demand. Hooked.
• Became engrossed in reruns of Magnum, P.I. and renewed my crush on Tom Selleck.
• Enjoyed the original Charlie & The Chocolate Factory for the 103rd time and wondered why we don’t eat more candy and where can I get an Oompa-Loompa?

Moving on now…better times, they are a comin’.

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