Soap opera actress Darlene Conley, best known for playing Sally Spectra for the past 20 years on The Bold and the Beautiful, lost her battle with cancer over the weekend. She was 72.

Conley, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer just three months ago, also played characters on Days of our Lives and General Hospital -- and many knew her as black market baby broker Rose DeVille onThe Young and the Restless.

Before embarking on a daytime career, Conley made appearances in movies The Birds and Valley of the Dolls and on television shows such as Murder, She Wrote, Cagney & Lacey, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

In 1998, former Beatles Sir Paul McCartney lost his beloved wife Linda to breast cancer. At the time, she had been helping him work on his fourth classical album Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart). When Linda died, Paul says in his grief the music stopped and he could not work for a year.

Ecce Cor Meum is an orchestral work in four movements. Interlude is Paul's tribute to Linda. BBC News has quoted Paul as saying, "There is an interlude in the middle of Ecce Cor Meum which is a very sad piece of music. My colleague and I remember actually sitting at the keyboard just weeping when we were doing this piece. It does it to me every time. It was a very, very emotional, very sad time for me, obviously, losing Linda."

Last Sunday was Linda's birthday. The album Ecce Cor Meum, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, was released on Monday. For Paul, the timing of the release of this work is meaningful. If you plan to be in London on November 4, Ecce Cor Meum will be performed live at the Royal Albert Hall.

Ecce Cor Meum is available for sale at Amazon, with short audio samplings of Spiritus; Gratia; Interlude (Lament); Musica and Ecce Cor Meum. Some of the pieces have a delicate haunting sadness and an exquisitely beautiful emotional quality that makes the music superb. Ecce Cor Meum is a moving tribute of love and remembrance.

I've been keeping a journal ever since I was first diagnosed with breast cancer. I first wrote by hand in a pink fabric-covered book, sprinkled with multi-colored polka dots. It looked feminine -- which is why I bought it -- and it's vibrance made me feel inspired, motivated, eager to write down the dreaded details of the beginning of my journey. Then I stopped writing in this book and began typing my words in an on-line journal -- a blog. My husband designed the presentation of it, with a pink banner that serves as the backdrop for the title -- my Breast Cancer blog. My first entry was completed on December 21, 2004 and I am still chronicling my journey here. I am also writing for this site -- the Cancer Blog -- and I write whenever and wherever else I can record my words. I do it because it helps me process information in a quiet, calming, introspective way. It soothes me, helps me work through panic and anxiety, helps me heal, and helps me chart my progress. When I look back at what I've written, I realize how far I've come -- or haven't come -- and it helps me move forward. I recommend journaling for everyone, and I recommend these seven simple suggestions for getting started.