My mom's friend was diagnosed with breast cancer the other day. Since I've already been down the breast cancer path, she asked me to send this friend a supportive e-mail. I've done this before -- reach out to someone newly diagnosed -- but it's never easy. I never know quite what to say. Somehow, I figure it out, though.

Here are seven of the messages I shared with this woman who is just beginning her journey with Paget's disease of the breast, a form of breast cancer that shows up in the nipple as an itchiness or scaling that doesn't get better.

• In the face of uncertainty, worry, and fear, here's some good news: once you gain more and more information about your diagnosis, the easier it gets. The waiting really is the hardest part. Knowing what lies ahead will give you some control over your path.

Major League Baseball and the Prostate Cancer Foundation teamed up this year to form the Home Run Challenge in honor of Father's Day. Their gift to father's across the country: for each home run hit in 60 selected games between June 6 and today, June 17, raised money for prostate cancer, the second most common cancer for men in the United States.

Some fans of this cause made pledges; some posted online tributes to their dads at Dockers San Francisco. For every message submitted, the company donated one dollar. Some messages were even shown in Times Square for all to see.

I just checked the status of the Home Run Challenge on this Father's Day morning and found the most updated total of home runs to be 91. Leading the accomplishment are Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano. The current Team Home Run leader: the Cincinnati Reds.

My husband came up with this idea he thought I should pursue. Why not contact the makers of bras, he suggested, and encourage them to sew some kind of pink ribbon or inspirational message inside these undergarments so women are reminded of the importance of breast health every time they get dressed? Because I don't have enough time right now, I told him, thinking maybe one day when my two little boys are all grown up and I have time for myself I will focus my energy on some worthwhile cause.

A few days after my husband shared his brainstorm with me, I read about a woman who has spearheaded a project very similar to the one he was dreaming of. Great minds think alike.

Think about this:

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation wants help fighting breast cancer. So forget about fighting crowds this holiday season -- help fight cancer instead.

The Komen Marketplace is offering two specially designed holiday greeting cards this year, available for purchase on-line through December 8.

Prices for cards, that can be personalized with an individual name, a company name, and a special message, range depending on the card. One option costs $1.30 to $1.40 per card, plus nominal printing fees. Another option costs $5.00 per card, with no printing fees. For this option, The Komen Foundation will also print envelopes with mailing and return addresses. They will even stamp envelopes and drop the cards in the mail too.

Fifty to 100 percent of sales will benefit the fight against breast cancer. And 100 percent of the cards will spread hope and promise through messages like this -- The best gifts are wrapped in the joy we give to others. Happy Holidays. This card has been given to you as a special tribute in support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Celebrities catch our attention. They cause us to pay attention too -- which is likely why the media uses celebrities and prominent people to send messages about all sorts of issues, like breast cancer.

It's not just the real-life survivor celebrity stories -- about Melissa Etheridge and Elizabeth Edwards and Sheryl Crow -- that make headlines and attract ratings. It's also the portrayal of cancer survivors on television that raises awareness about this disease. It's not a new trend -- it started long ago when All in the Family's Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) experienced a breast cancer scare, marking one of the first times the issue of breast cancer was discussed openly on TV.

Tough cop Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) of the TV show Cagney & Lacey traveled a breast cancer journey. Sisters eldest sister Alex (Swoosie Kurtz) was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived chemotherapy with family by her side. Beverly Hills, 90210 character Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) found a lump in her breast and shed light on the fact that young women are not immune to breast cancer. Sex and the City's Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) developed breast cancer and proudly pulled off her wig on television. The L Word's Dana Fairbanks (Erin Daniels) lost her battle with breast cancer. And on Angela's Eyes, FBI agent Angela Henson recently learned her mother once had breast cancer -- and that it has come back.

There are many others television story lines woven with the thread of breast cancer. They draw viewers and boost ratings. They also raise awareness -- because people pay attention to celebrities.

Of all the gifts I received during my cancer treatment, I never did receive boxing gloves. And I've never even considered giving them as gifts to loved ones who are sick. I usually stick with fuzzy socks -- that's my traditional put-your-feet-up comfort gift. But I like the idea of boxing gloves. I like that they represent the fight cancer brings out in us. And I like that two sisters came up with this gift idea for their mother during her cancer battle. Complete with signatures from family and friends, they presented boxing gloves to their mom, Gerrell, who loved looking at her symbol of strength. And she was thrilled with all the personal messages that reminded her each day of everyone who stood in her corner. Although Gerrell has since passed away from cancer, the boxing glove idea lives on.

After their mom died, Gerrell's daughters began a company called My Knockout where they sell boxing gloves with signature pens, t-shirts, gift baskets, and more -- and they contribute a portion of all profits to the American Cancer Society. They say it's takes just three rounds to pursue this gift option for anyone faced with a physical or emotional struggle -- just purchase My Knockout boxing gloves, have friends and loved ones sign the gloves with encouraging messages, and give the gloves to your fighters.

Gerrell's daugthers, who also keep a My Knockout blog, say life is truly worth fighting for. So put your gloves up and fight.

Thanks Sheree for sharing your story!

Our days start early now that Joey is in kindergarten and school begins promptly at 7:45 AM. His daddy gets him out of bed at 6:30 AM so he can have some time to wake to the world before shuffling out the door, and we've happily found that Mister Rogers' Neighborhood comes on at just this time. The same Mister Rogers that first appeared on television in Canada in 1963 and then in the United States in 1967 -- with a gentle man, Mister Rogers himself, spreading his calm but uplifting messages to children and nurturing personalities of kids everywhere.

The last original episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was aired in 2001. And in 2003, Fred McFeeley Rogers died at the age of 74 after a brief bout with stomach cancer. But his legacy lives on as his show -- the longest-running PBS program ever -- still graces the television screen. I remember watching this show with my grandmother when I was a little girl. And now I get to watch it with my little boy -- who can also visit Mister Rogers on the PBS website.

Today, Joey and I started our day with a cheery little song, sung by the man who hated television and joined it only to bring about change -- to use this fabulous instrument to guide children in a positive direction. And here is what he sang this morning -- the song that is still playing in my head as I take on the day ahead of me.

It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.
It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside.
And when you wake up ready to say,
"I think I'll make a snappy new day."
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling,
The feeling you know that we're friends.

I hope it's a good day in your neighborhood.

Melissa Etheridge's song Run for Life -- inspired by her own personal battle with breast cancer -- plays just as the pink and white SUNCHIPS® website is opened. And visitors to the site learn quickly that they can contribute to the Crunch for the Cure campaign by simply purchasing a bag of specially-marked SUNCHIPS® and entering in the special printed code here. For each code entered through December 15, 2006, SUNCHIPS® brand will donate .25 cents to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in support of its breast cancer initiatives. A pink breast cancer ribbon is the special mark on these bags of SUNCHIPS®, signifing a partnership in the fight against breast cancer.

This website also includes information about breast cancer, about Susan G. Komen races and volunteer opportunities -- and it even provides a means for thanking favorite Race for the Cure® volunteers. Readers can post their own thank-you messages that will appear on a virtual thank you wall.

Thank you SUNCHIPS® for your commitment to this cause.

It's hard to describe the feelings that overwhelmed me during my bad days with cancer. I could call them consuming and crushing and sickening and frightening and crippling and still not completely cover all the bases. It's much easier to describe the feelings that overwhelmed me on my good days with cancer. I felt -- and still mostly feel this way -- happy and spunky and motivated and invigorated and fulfilled. And I felt loved -- because most of my bad days were turned around by the love of others. It was like clockwork. When I needed it most, a surprise awaited me in my mailbox or my inbox or on on the other side of my front door or on my front porch. These surprises strengthened me on my bad days -- and sometimes beyond the bad days. They still help me really -- because my memory of how they saved me from days of despair continues to fuel my good days. And here are seven of my special surprises.

I have been a cheerleader for the breast cancer drug Herceptin ever since I began receiving it. I had my initial worries -- about an allergic reaction that I knew caused death within 24 hours for a handful of women and about possible toxicity to the heart -- but after faring well through my first dose and having now successfully completed my one year obligation to the drug, with no allergic reaction or heart damage, I have come to believe the Herceptin might just be the gem of a drug that the media says it is. Yet now I've read an article that makes me question what I really know about Herceptin -- and the studies that surround it and the statistics that back it and the messages sent out over the lines of mass communication to every day, non-medical people like me.

I see and use my handmade quilt every day. It was created especially for me by more than 20 talented friends who crafted the lavender, pale green, and white patches into a flowered work of beauty and serenity and warmth. It sits at the end of my bed -- folded neatly and by coincidence matching the color scheme of my room -- until the time at which I turn in for the night and I spread it out and allow it to comfort me and warm me. It has covered me every night since the night it was delivered to my doorstep by a few of the friends who helped make it -- and the peace it brings me today is no less than the peace it brought me the first night I used it -- the night when I was weak and sick and struggling with breast cancer.

Laugh. Joy. Love & Respect. Choose Happiness. These are the words that appear on the heart-shaped charms on my breast cancer bracelet made by Brighton. I wear it every day because of the uplifting messages that dangle around my wrist and also because one of the charms is a watch -- a real watch, in the shape of a heart with a pink background and inscribed words that say "Live in the Moment." Just before I received this bracelet from my friend -- whose own mother lost her breast cancer battle recently -- I was in desperate need of a watch. I hadn't needed one for the past four years because as a stay-at-home mom, my schedule was dictated not by the clock but by the needs of two rowdy little boys. But I got a job at a preschool and now time is very important. I have to be at work on time. I have to attend meetings and events. I have to chart the departures of children.  I have to leave my job at a certain time. A watch became necessary and just before my job started, my bracelet arrived in the mail. A perfect gift. Perfect timing. A perfect way to stay in tune with the passage of time. A perfect way to stay motivated on my breast cancer journey.

Another charm on my bracelet reads, "Wherever you go, go with your heart." Whenever my bracelet jingles and jangles on my arm, I am reminded to do just this. To go with my heart. To follow my heart. To feel peace in my heart. This bracelet helps me.  It works like a charm.

Paul McCartney lost both his mother Mary and his first wife Linda to breast cancer. Heather Mills McCartney, his current wife, is an outspoken advocate for cancer prevention, campaigning for the reduction of dairy products that can lead to greater risk for some cancers -- like ovarian cancer.

I have admired the efforts both have made for cancer prevention. Today, it was announced that the two have separated and will be getting a divorce. Of course speculation immediately turned to financial matters, with tongues wagging about how much Paul is worth and how much Heather stands to receive, considering there is no prenuptial agreement.

The couple issued a joint statement insisting their split was friendly -- but said that intrusions by the media made it difficult to sustain their relationship. Well! This turn of event isn't going to dim the lights on the media extravaganza that has surrounded them. The end of a marriage is difficult, and I am just sad to see that two people who have spent time and money working to improve the lives and health of others will be suffering personal pain on a world stage. You can read personal messages directly from Paul here.