TED KENNEDY...LIVESTRONG

Each death is like a rock chip flung into the armour of cancer survivors. You know exactly where it came from, but it's a hurtful surprise anyway. Ted Kennedy represented many hopes for many people over the years. And his valiant fight against cancer, both the disease and the health care system in which it occurred, was fierce and loud as well as quiet and compassionate. Ted, Bruce, Larry, Benj, Debbie, Rhonda, Charlie, Jackson. Too many. Too many to come.

The numbers are a stark reality. Today, 33,000 people around the world will be diagnosed with cancer. By 2010 cancer will be the leading cause of death worldwide. By 2020 more than 10 million people will die from cancer every year. By 2050, 27 million new cases and more than 17 million deaths.

Currently, every day in the United States, more than 1500 people die of cancer. 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women in the US will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

Yet hope lives. Ted Kennedy said in 1980, "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

In 2008, Kennedy had not given up, renewing his and our determination once more when he said, "The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on."

It is worth noting that Kennedy always paired "hope" with "work".

So beyond our grief, Kennedy's death is a renewed call to action. For each cancer survivor, for every friend and family member, it's immediate and personal. It is a safe bet that each of you out there has been touched.

What are you waiting for? What world will you live in? What world will your children and grandchildren inherit?

Visit http://www.livestrongaction.org/. Join the 1,337,385 (and counting) people around the world uniting to fight for a world without cancer. Right now.

Dream. Hope. Work.