Keep holding my hand, it's so we don't get separated.

I promised, back when I first set this blog up, that I'd tell you a story about the pretty girl who's got David all snuggled up on her lap. Aside from being one of the most gentle, loving and serene people I know, one of my dearest friends, and someone I treasure as much as I treasure David, Zeynep is a generous and determined soul who did an amazing thing for the National Kidney Foundation last year.

Zeynep, along with David and four others, is one of my Warders - close friends and protectors after the fashion of the Warders of Robert Jordan's (now way over-long and in need of finishing) Wheel of Time series. They look out for me (and I for them) and for each other, stepping up to lend a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, arms to comfort, an ear to whisper in...and sometimes legs to run on.

I missed the renegade Blogathon last year, hearing about it far too late to set up a blog and get sponsors in time, so instead, I wrote about David. I wrote about how dear to my heart he is, how frightened I am for him (no matter how much he tells me not to worry), how frustrating it is to me that his cure seems so close, yet so far at the same time, how irritating it was to only be able to throw money at the NKF and not much more. So I offered to write anything my readers wanted, if they only sent a donation to the NKF in David's honor.

Zeynep did, and as a donor, wound up on the NKF's mailing list. And they sent her something - a brochure, advertising the DC area's 5K Kidney Walk/Run.

Zeynep, in a show of love for and solidarity with her "Elder Brother", didn't hesitate. She signed up. And then she started training and writing about the training and asking for people to sponsor her. The donations began to come in, word began to spread.

On September 18th, 2004, Zeynep ran, bearing a tag proclaiming "Walking in Honor of Super Warder - David Scotton" (which tag she later gave to me - it lives on my office wall in a frame, but I really do keep meaning to send it to David). When all was said and done, Zeynep had raised $1234 for the NKF.

And then it got better.

A DC area transplant survivor matched all donations, dollar for dollar, and Zeynep's effort resulted in the National Kidney Foundation being presented with $2468 in David's name.

Sometimes, you do things because you feel a need. Sometimes, that need intersects with love for a friend. Those intersections are the most compelling, and serve to remind us that the love of a friend is a powerful force, not one to be lightly toyed with.

These are the people I cherish. For them, I write.