This walk is for my friend, Lindsay Zubeck.

There are people we meet in life who we just know were placed in our path for a reason. My friends Lindsay and Katie are two of those people. We found each other through a shared diagnosis of ocular melanoma and from that moment on, we were inseparable. We showed up for the good news and the devastating news. We laughed when laughing felt impossible. We had the hardest conversations openly, honestly and without judgment. And we knew, no matter what, we would always be there for one another.

Last month, this fucking cancer took Lindsay from us and it left a hole in my heart that will never be filled. That kind of rare, soul-deep friendship can’t be replaced. I am endlessly grateful that Katie is still here, but the three wonky-eyed musketeers are now two. Still, in true Lindsay fashion, we will keep fighting and kicking life’s ass just like she did.

I made a promise a while back that I would help support the MRF’s Miles for Melanoma in Orange County. Lately, even the smallest steps have been hard because everything reminds me that I can’t just pick up the phone and call her anymore. But promises matter. And this one matters too.

So in honor of my friends Lindsay and Katie, I walk for ocular melanoma. I walk so no other group of friends has to endure what we have. So no more families are torn apart. I am so damn tired of this cancer and the lack of funding it receives to truly change outcomes.

Please help. Support me. Support Katie. Support everyone who has loved someone like Lindsay. Help us fund research that leads to treatments that actually work. Not treatments that just extend life while people suffer, but treatments that give time back. Real time. Time to live, to laugh and to enjoy life just a little bit longer.

Thank you for honoring Lindsay, for standing with this community and for helping us keep hope alive, even when it’s hard.

Step up and donate to Miles for Melanoma today.