Jolene found out she had breast cancer at an incredibly young age, 17. As time flowed forward, the cancer spread. It attacked her jaw, brain and lungs. There were many surgeries to try to stop the metastasis but unfortunately, in this case, they failed. We read her posts on Facebook and heard her speak on the Stupid Cancer Show. We learned of the people who kept up with Jolene and realized that she has touched many lives - indirectly but significantly. She did this by being herself, by extending a few worlds of kindness at the world while chronicling her experiences with cancer. Often, the last sentence in each post was reserved for wishing the world a good night. “LOTS OF LOVE TO YOU WORLD!!! SWEET DREAMS!!!” she would write.

At 26 years old, she decided to end treatment to enjoy the remainder of her life with friends and family by her side. What makes Jolene really amazing is that she used this time to really live every moment she was here. She created a bucket list and followed it religiously. She took charge making arrangements for her funeral, picked out her urn and figured out the details. It was her decision to take the burden of these tasks on her self. Even if cancer was invading her physically, there were elements that she could still control - and she - did demonstrating a strong character and her ability to sensibly look at her unfortunate situation.

She was young, beautiful (inside and out), brave, and always consistently inspired by this fragile yet remarkable thing  called LIFE. With effortless ease she would influence you to be inspired by it as well. It is with burdened hearts that we write she is no longer with us. The incredible, completely self possessed girl we had the pleasure of getting to know has moved on from this life, and from the stupid cancer that took her body. We want to dedicate this post to Jolene, to everyone who is no longer with us, to anyone who has lost a loved one to this disease and to everyone currently in the for the fight of their lives. Thank you for taking the time to share your stories.