Hello,

As I am sure you've heard, one of our closest friends Michelle Price was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago. While she has already undergone a successful surgery last month, due to her family history and other factors, they felt it best to also do a full round of aggressive chemotherapy to ensure they give her the highest chances of success in beating this awful diseases.

The chemotherapy treatments begin next week and while the costs of the treatment are going to be covered through healthcare. She is going to be faced with a lot of out of pocket costs for a number of additional expenses her benefits and our healthcare will only partially cover.   

These are definitely challenging times for everyone right now, however, we are hoping we can all come together and chip in what we can to cover the costs of this for her and her family, every little bit makes a huge difference!

**Should you like to know more..... A post this morning with a little backstory for those of you who have just gotten to know Michelle. 

As Cancer inevitably seems to do ~ it's found its way to the truly most undeserving of people.

I am not sure how much detail is socially acceptable to get into with these sorts of things as I would like to write for days & would still not be able to scratch the surface of the beautiful person Michelle is, suffice it to say the message at the end of the story would still read the same. This time cancer ~ you’ve made a huge mistake.

For me to explain Michelle in a sentence is obviously impossible however an attempt would read a little like ~  The most compassionate, selfless, kindest, most empathetic person I have ever had the pleasure to meet. The fact that she’s allowing me to be a part of her life is a humbling experience and one that I am and will be ever grateful for.  

For those of you who want to know more……  I will try & boil down 20 years in a paragraph or 2.   Michelle Price (Botnen):  Has been raising 4 children as a single mom for the past 19 years by means of working many multiple jobs & with the support of her truly phenomenal sister Mel & a small army of amazing friends only someone like Michelle could attract.

These days, while not incomprehensibly busy raising what are turning out to be truly amazing children ~ Mish spends her days, sometimes evenings & weekends as needed, working as a counselor for troubled youth with the city's most unlucky, abused & neglected children.

Ok so if all that isn’t impressive enough, allow me one more example to aid me in depicting the true ethos of this creature & just how crazy beautiful she truly is. 

When I first met Michelle she had in her car a bunch of large zip lock bags packed with weird stuff such as socks, toothbrushes, hygiene kits,  protein bars, apple juice  & other misc items to which I figured it was a little odd to be packing around with you everywhere you go - so I asked.…….. Whatcha doin? 

Turns out they are care packages that she and her children put together using the few bucks they had, donations from where they could get them, for the sole purpose of handing them out to the random homeless people they happen across in their travels all over the city.

I don't think I need to say more than that really.   For myself that was it ~  how could anyone not want to have every part of a person operating at this level. 

So like WTF Cancer, shame on you for going after the absolute best of us!

Now the fight begins, stress removal being a major proponent in a successful recovery & moma bear needing a break from working the massive hours required to keep everything up and running, the next chapter begins & here we are. 

Onward & upward baby girl, you got me now & we got this.