A stranger approached me recently and asked if I was the "living lady." I knew what she meant, but the question evoked puzzled stares from a nearby couple.

I am glad today to be both alive and still somewhat of a lady. Prudish I am not, but neither am I a worldly woman. I know that's not chic. In this day and age, the more sins you confess, the more books you will sell. Sorry. You won't read about me in the Enquirer. I only confess my sins to Jesus and He keeps the book that counts.

This has been a week of significant news. Two messages arrived in my

e-mail. Both were regarding friends I have made on the Internet in a group called "Club Mets." All members have metastasized cancer.

The first one was a note from Linda. It said, "I'm in shock. I just found out our friend died Monday. I just talked to her a few weeks ago before her trip to Lake Tahoe with family. She'd been battling mets to the lungs and bones and was doing better. Then BAM. She was in the hospital just 8 days. She was the one in the group who'd been through everything that had come my way. I kept my eyes on her and got reassurance that if she could do it so could I. It should have been me first and I feel so guilty."

The other note was from Penny. " Barbara R. just went on a trip of a life time! Saturday morning Barbara and her three children left for an Alaskan Cruise. As many of you know, Alaska was one of her favorite places. On Sunday she was dressed to perfection and dined with the Captain. Monday was filled with a helicopter ride over four glaciers and included walking and landing on Norris Glacier. This evening was topped off with shopping the streets of Juneau. On Tuesday, the ship docked in Skagway where everyone boarded the historic narrow gauge railroad for a round trip journey to the "Summit of White Pass." During the trip her favorite poem, written by Robert Service titled the "Cremation of Sam McGee," was read over the speakers while Barbara recited in unison.

By Wednesday, Barbara was tired so she relaxed in the room as they cruised Glacier Bay. On Thursday, the ship docked in Ketchikan, Alaska, where Barbara passed away surrounded by her three children in one of the places she loved the most."

I am glad my sisters in this battle with cancer lived life to its fullest for as long as they could. Psalms 23 doesn't say, "…though I sit in the valley of the shadow of death." It says instead, "…though I walk through the valley…I will fear no evil."

Footprints on the sands of time are never left by sitting down. This living lady chooses to forge a path as long as possible in hopes that those who come behind can find a trail.