“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.” #WinniethePooh
And yet this photo was taken more than a year ago, the last time I saw Traci (bottom left). We talked, just a few weeks ago, about getting together soon. But we hadn’t yet.
Today, Traci is in the hospital at UCSF, fighting back from an acute cardiac episode. She is only 45, and is in excellent health, so this is shocking to even contemplate.
Our pregnancies overlapped while we worked together at The Fresno Bee – her youngest daughter and mine are just a few months apart in age. Later, we were part of the team at The Bee that launched Central Valley Moms, an online forum to discuss parenting issues, along with Gail Marshall, Mary Lou Aguirre and Genevieve Hinson.
We’ve stayed connected through children, divorces, newfound love, job changes and everything else life could throw at us.
Later, we worked together again. I had been laid off from my position at The Bee, and Traci invited me to join the voices at The Full Moxie, an online “gathering place for intelligent, amazing women, writing about celebrity, DIY, entertainment, fashion & beauty, food, health & fitness, and love & family.”
Being a part of The Full Moxie meant so much to me at a point in my life when I felt the foundation I had built a career upon had been pulled out from under me. Traci asking me to be part of that team told me that my writing, my opinions still had value.
Traci is sassy, sexy, funny and vibrant. I love her laugh, her joy, her enthusiasm. Family is everything to her. She is a mother to her three biological children, three stepchildren and an adoptive child. I can’t even imagine what her family is going through this week.
Traci has touched so many lives. To create a network of support for Traci and show her what she means to us ( and to help her family out in an incredibly difficult time), share a photo of yourself wearing pink (her favorite color) with the hashtag #gopinkfortraci, share this GoFundMe page link — https://www.gofundme.com/gopinkfortraci – and consider making a donation to help with some of the mounting expenses from her medical treatment far from home.
Don’t put off making time for those you love in your life. We never know when something like this will strike, even those who we think are healthy and strong.
Life is so beautiful and fragile. We never know when things might change, in the blink of an eye. It is breath-taking and terrifying. Cherish and be present in every moment.
writeronthewall.com 
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