![\"D](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.katrinakenison.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/D-K-450x322.jpg?resize=450%2C322\")
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T<\/span>hree years ago this week, my friend Diane and I took a walk around her neighborhood.\u00a0 I remember we went slowly, taking our time, enjoying the sunshine and each other.\u00a0 Although we talked and laughed as we always had, my heart was heavy. I knew it would probably be our last walk together.<\/p>\n But what I couldn\u2019t have known on that August morning was that although Diane\u2019s own four-year journey with ovarian cancer was coming to an end, my walking partner\u2019s legacy would live on.<\/p>\n As I set out just after dawn today for a long, solitary walk on a quiet country road, I found myself thinking of my friend.\u00a0 Not a day goes by when I don\u2019t miss her. I miss our long walks, our trips to the farmers\u2019 market, our overnight get-aways, fast rides in her little chocolate brown sports car.\u00a0 I miss her e-mails (which always seemed to contain the words I most needed to hear), the sound of her voice, her perfect, light-as-air scones, her pleasure in a glass of good champagne, her no-nonsense advice about kids and recipes and neighborhood dilemmas.\u00a0 I miss hearing her views on politics and tv shows and books and which jeans looked best on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the same, as the years go by, I find myself increasingly grateful for the clear sense of purpose she bequeathed to all of us she left behind. More than anything, Diane hoped that more effective treatments and earlier detection might make other women\u2019s prognoses better than her own. Nearly three years after her death, Diane\u2019s commitment to ovarian cancer research has not only endured, it has become an increasingly vital legacy<\/p>\n Given how dedicated Diane was to this cause, how tirelessly she worked even after her diagnosis to raise money, and how many miles she walked to support the ongoing research at Dana Farber, where she was treated, it’s no surprise that so many of her friends have been inspired to follow in her footsteps.<\/p>\n T<\/span>eam Diane was founded as a personal way for a group of us to remember our dear friend by continuing the work Diane herself began. On Sunday, September 8th, we will once again lace up our sneakers and walk the 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon route.<\/p>\n The funds we raise go to Diane\u2019s Fund, established by Diane\u2019s family to directly support the cutting-edge efforts at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to better understand the biology and improve the detection and treatment of ovarian and other gynecological cancers.<\/p>\n But Team Diane has become much more than a handful of friends raising money for a good cause. Our circle has widened, our commitment has deepened, our impact has strengthened, and we have built a community of hope and support for the many amongst us who have been touched or suffered loss as a result of these diseases. While we walk in Diane\u2019s honor and in her name, our walk is not about one woman\u2019s journey, it is about our<\/i> journey, together.<\/p>\n R<\/span>aising money has never been easy for me.\u00a0 For years, while my sons were growing up, I happily volunteered to cook, clean, drive, edit, and organize for various causes I believed in. I was always happy to do anything \u2013 anything, that is, that didn\u2019t involve asking other people to open their checkbooks.<\/p>\n Joining Team Diane took me out of my comfort zone in several ways.\u00a0 But training for months to prepare to walk 26. 2 miles has proved to be far easier for me than asking others to contribute cash \u2013 even for a cause I believe in deeply.\u00a0 In the end, as I’ve done so often in the past, I look to my friend\u2019s example for courage.\u00a0 Raising money was not easy for her, either.\u00a0 But she did it — gracefully and with absolute commitment, \u00a0knowing the funds she raised would make a difference for others. And so, I gather my own courage and carry on; my guess is, nothing would have pleased Diane more.<\/p>\n Last year, Team Diane collectively raised over $50,000 to directly support the research efforts led by Diane\u2019s oncologist, Dr. Ursula Matulonis. She and her team are making significant progress every day. And she has reached out to thank us personally for making such a meaningful contribution to this urgent work. Our walk and your donations help make this work possible.<\/p>\n I am deeply grateful for any support you, my readers, are able to give. Together, we are walking and giving and working to change lives — and perhaps to save them.<\/p>\n As you know already, if you\u2019ve been reading here for a while, I received a very special gift from my husband at Christmas time \u2013 a hardbound volume collecting all of my blog pieces, from the very first one I wrote back in 2009 up through last October (when he had to send the book to press in order to have copies ready for Christmas).\u00a0 The View from My Window<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0is a personal book, created for me to share with family and friends (you can read more about it\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>). \u00a0But I do have a dozen of the original 30 copies left, and I would love to give them to you —\u00a0 my way of saying \u201cthank you\u201d for supporting me in this year\u2019s walk.<\/p>\n![\"Team](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.katrinakenison.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Team-Diane-450x337.jpeg?resize=450%2C337\")
<\/p>\n\nHow to donate, and a special thanks<\/em>\u00a0 from me to you!<\/span><\/h3>\n