Folks, this is a long thread, because it's a long story. But it's one worth telling, so I hope you stick around till the end. And if you don't, at least jump to the last tweet. Thank you. So, several years ago...

...i went through a divorce, and as these things are, it was difficult, and there was plenty of blame to share. After some time I met someone new, as also sometimes happens...

...and i'll spare you the details of how deeply we connected, how we felt a connection that, each time we followed one root, it led to two more, until it was clear our souls were hopelessly entangled, and nothing could have stopped it. It was, in a word, b'shert.

And like me, she had one daughter. And she would love to have had more. But fate, as we know, can be a monster...

When she and her first husband returned from their honeymoon, he started having some stomach aches. And she, my future wife, started having some nausea.

For her, it meant she was going to be a mother. For him, it meant that he had a tumor that might prevent him from ever meeting his daughter.

They struggled through it all together, with details that aren't mine to share. A girl was born in spring, and he was taken in summer, by pancreatic cancer. And this girl, despite only three months with her father, was so much his, so like him in many ways (or so Im told).

Well, a few years later, I met this little girl, and I fell doubly in love. My heart was now divided in three, a part for my new love, the child of my blood, and this remarkable toddler.

(Of course hearts in these situations don't shatter, but rather grow to gather in and to give back love as if there were an infinite reservoir in the universe to tap)

And now I have a wife and two daughters, one of whom has both a celestial and terrestrial daddy, as she understands it. She knows both of them well, loves them both, and knows where she came from.

Here's where I ask something of you. My wife raises money each year near his birthday for early detection and for treatment of pancreatic cancer. This is very close to our hearts for a number of reasons...

First, this time of year, our tradition is to give charity in the name of those we've lost, which brings merit to their soul (or "memory" for a more secular read). Second it is his birthday, another he should have been able to celebrate.

In normal times there would be a walk, of course, and pledges etc. But this year, all charities are hurting. Sky Foundation directly funds scientists and doctors working on early detection and treatment. Now here's where it gets more personal...

My little girl's father died of pancreatic cancer. She is so beautiful and such a light (like her sister, the child of my blood but different). We don't believe her dad's cancer was familial, but we don't know that it wasn't.

When she is older, I want there to be a reliable way to screen her for this horrible disease, and prevent this incredible girl from leaving us too soon. And here's the ask for real: we are far from our goal this year, only halfway there.

If even half my followers gave a dollar, we would make our goal. Even if you don't give though, i can't thank you enough for sticking with me through this thread and helping make Ben's memory for a blessing. https://e.givesmart.com/events/huV/c/:MonDJH6A_5S/?v=