With immeasurable sadness, our family had to let go of my mom yesterday. She died at 3:35 p.m., leaving a hole in my and many other lives that can never be filled.

Thanks to all of you who have expressed kind thoughts on the subject of her condition. She was a strong believer of the importance of community, and was quite familiar with her identity here as MamaBlue, and she would have considered the support so many have shown to be a fine example of the benefits of a communal spirit. Likewise, my own thoughts are with the many of you who have described your own families' struggles with illness -- you have my sympathies.

Finally, thanks to Frans for his help catching up on today's news. I'm sure there are many questioning the need for me to jump back into this so soon, but it's been a good distraction, and with a funeral this weekend I really wanted to clear my plate to keep the backlog of news from being stressful and to prevent it from getting any more overwhelming.

Links of the Day:	National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations.
Story of the Day:	Talk Like a Pirate Day. Thanks TRNutt.