Beautiful Jenna

But then, Jenna’s course changed. In December of 2010, she was diagnosed with Grey Zone Lymphoma, one of the rarest forms of blood Cancer. Like everyone else who knew her from our days at McGill, I swallowed the news with a grain of denial, and a heaping spoonful of anger. Jenna took the news and turned it into a mission. Not only was she going to conquer cancer, but she was going to educate the rest of us while doing it.

“While I willingly accepted the fact that cancer would cause unavoidable physical changes, I was unwilling to allow the disease to rob me of my voice. For the past six months I have struggled with what it means to hold on to my voice and eventually reclaim it. There were moments when I could not talk, but I was communicating. There were moments when I was quiet, but I was really screaming. As I desperately tried to find my voice and struggled to be heard, I realized that I would need to embrace Cancer in order to beat her.” – Jenna Benn

In the past five months, Jenna has gone from old college buddy to respected life teacher. With her poignant and honest blog, Kill it in the Butt, Jenna takes a pragmatic look at life, Cancer, and all the good things that can come from embracing a less-than-ideal situation. Whether you’re a cancer patient,  the friend or relative of a cancer patient, or just someone looking for some good solid life lessons, you’ll be touched by Jenna’s honesty and candid humour.

Today, in the midst of her treatment, when most people would be hiding, Jenna became a featured contributor to the Huffington Post. We can all learn a thing or two from this amazing woman.

To learn more about Jenna and her journey with Cancer visit Kill it in the Butt, or check out her Vimeo page.

It’s been almost 10 years since Suri passed away after a difficult three and a half year battle with cancer, but she is still very much alive in the hearts and minds of her family, friends, and countless others who she touched in her short life.

Suri was a community leader, artist, teacher, singer and actor who enjoyed life to its fullest and valued art in its many forms. It is with her passions in mind that Suri’s loved ones have joined forces with ICRF to out together this incredible event.

Suri’s Soiree, where the impossible is possible, will feature Canadian singer and songwriter Kuba Oms, DJ NV Nazli Var, who regularly spins at Montreal hot-spot Garde Manger and Grammy award winning musical guest, COMMON, who is scheduled to perform a compilation of his most popular hits.

All of the proceeds from the event will go to ICRF, which has raised more than 33 million dollars to date for over 1800 cancer research projects.

Suri’s friends, family, ICRF and this blogger invite you to be part of a celebration of life and art on March 27th, 2010, at the Segal Center for the performing arts.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.icrfnewleadership.com

My friend and colleague has become a self described social media ninja, so it occurred to me that I could use his (now rather well known) image to get my point across. This is what our friend and designer and I came up with over breakfast.

The concept is simple: Mess with Bishin, and I’ll unleash the Bandito:



Not surprisingly, my colleagues have all been a lot more prompt recently.

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