The Anchoress writes of her friend of 20 years, Jane. Now gone:
"Two days after a wonderful Christmas she has a backache that sends her to a doctor.

Jane was not doctor-phobic. Being the sole provider for her children, she understood that she needed to stay healthy. She ate right, she had yearly check-ups, mammograms, etc.

There was no clue that anything was wrong, and yet the doctors last week said this growth inside her was so massive it must have been going on for years. From her kidney to her heart, the blackness grew. She is gone."

We pray for you, and her, and her children.