an open letter to the ninjas

To all the Ninjas:

Jess and Mark are home. Hurray! Back at work, back at the gym, back at a dinner table near you. It's not exactly the same - for example they'll be leaving again for a few weeks off and on, and Jess actually turned down a glass of red wine last night. But that's ok. We'll take what we can get around here, and it's almost rose season anyway.

To the far flung ninjas in Portland, Vermont, Montana, St. Louis, Southern California, and everywhere else - please know that the MacBlaines are well cared-for by the locals. We're bringing dinners, checking in, providing couches for curling up with tea, and offering more help and food than they could possibly want. We're doing it on behalf of all of you too - we know how much you love her. We know because you've been reading and posting on this blog.

Jess has told me how much people's words on the blog have helped her, and I think it's safe to say that the blog has helped a lot of us, whether we've been regular posters or not. It has helped me. It's comforting to know how many people out there love my friend Jess. I love knowing that so many people are thinking about her every day, wearing their red bracelets and willing to bare their soul in this public forum to make sure Jess knows how special she is. We are Team Jess! Cancer ninjas! Banding together to support our girl through the worst days, and raising our glasses to the best days.

It's time to close the blog. Jess needs different things from us now and she's checking email a lot more. I will keep welovejessblaine@gmail.com open until next week in case anyone has a last post. After that I'll make a book for Jess from the blog so she can remember all the sweet things people said and all the love we are still sending her way.

Love,
Melissa