Weird thing about online life: you can know someone for years, and even think of them as a friend, without ever meeting them. For example, this summer, I finally met a friend I’d known for more than a dozen years. She’s a smart, snarky, funny woman, a brilliant writer whose work makes me laugh almost daily. Of course, I’m talking about Tamara of the View from the Porch blog.

This week, we got the word that Tamara’s schnozz has a problem: it’s got a wee touch of basal cell carcinoma. As Tam writes, “… I could have done without it being on the nose. I am not going to wind up disfigured from this. The Henry Waxman look just isn’t for me, and neither is Tycho Brahe’s.”

As if that weren’t enough, Tamara refers to herself as a “self-unemployed writer.” Like many freelancers, she has no health insurance. So she’s looking at surgery without insurance, a spendy proposition.

Now, if you don’t regularly read her blog, you really should. But if  you don’t, this post isn’t really for you. I’m talking to the people who do read her work and get as much enjoyment out of it as I do. If she’s entertained you, or if she’s taught you something, it would be nice to give something back if you are able. Even a few dollars would help.

That’s why I suggest you step over to OldNFO’s place and enter the raffle he’s got going on her behalf. It looks to me as if there are some Darn Good prizes, but the best prize of all comes from knowing you’ve helped a friend at a time when she needed you.