UPDATE: 11-7-11 - This morning Katie passed peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her family. Her loss is profound and she touched the lives of so many she never even met. I was blessed to know her and to have shared part of my life with her. Thank you for your continued suppport of her husband Kevin and the boys.
Sympathy cards can be sent to:
The Renz Family
PO Box 5913
Bellingham, WA 98227-5913
Also, in case you're interested, the twins, Nate and Will, will be turning 6 on Nov. 19th and Hunter will be 12 on Dec. 1. It would be wonderful if we could shower them with cards for their special day, just like their mom would do. Kevin's birthday is November 17.
From October 1-12, OVER 125 TOP DESIGNERS hopped to support our friend and stamper, Katie Renz, who is currently battling gastric cancer. Exclusive stamp & digis are available for sale with 100% of the profits going to Katie and her family. Direct donations are also being accepted (click the donate button above). All stamps/digis for sale are listed HERE.
Katie’s cancer story started just before Christmas last year. This young, beautiful, healthy, vibrant mother of 3 with her infectious smile was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, virtually overnight. A few tummy aches and then stage 4 gastric cancer. Her first post about it is here.
The idea of “Swimming for Katie” came from her recent post here.
Her post reminded me of Finding Nemo: “Don’t give up! Just keep swimming! Keep swimming…just keep swimming…” because that was the only way to survive and escape from the fisherman’s net. When Becky Oehlers (she designed the adorable image) and I chatted about this, it seemed like a good route to go and to just encourage Katie to “Keep swimming” for her own survival, just like the fish. The little octopus reminds me of a cheerleader pom-pom too, which is also encouraging.
Marianne (the Copic Queen) has also donated a digi that will be for sale as well as True =D Doodle Designs and Jak Heath.
Paper Lovelies is donating all proceeds from their Paper Lovelies Kits through the end of the year to Katie. They are a scrapbooking kit club and have new kits each month. Get some crafty goodness AND help Katie all at once!
