I'd like to introduce you all to one special young lady named Anna Tomalis. She's a 13-year-old seventh-grader who attends Lime Kiln Middle School and is a parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, in Fulton.

She has been battling cancer for more than 2 1/2 years and by all accounts, is quite the trooper. Because of her illness, she has not been able to attend classes at Lime Kiln, but has been home schooled for the past two years.

"Anna has faced her struggles with more humor, grace and strength than most adults could muster," Colleen Konstanzer wrote. "In spite of incredibly difficult treatments and many heartbreaking set-backs, Anna has never allowed herself to be defined by her illness and has enthusiastically embraced life; truly living everyday to the fullest."

Anna has a big heart, so big in fact that she and her family, parents, Ron and Liz Tomalis, and younger sisters, Megan and Julia, in conjunction with the American Red Cross, sponsored a blood drive that took place April 19 at Lime Kiln Middle School to help "kids all over the area that need blood, too."

From Konstanzer's e-mail about the event: "There were 59 donations with six denials, but the great part was that 23 of those 59 were first-time blood donors, who were willing to try donating just to help the cause.

"It was a wonderful experience. I hope everyone got the thrill that I did in knowing that they will be helping so many children. It meant a lot to me and it will mean a lot to other people, too. Thank you to everyone who came to help," Anna said.

In the summer of 2005, Anna, then 10 years old, was starting fifth grade. She ran a fever for a couple of weeks, but then it subsided for about a week.

Then, after playing in a soccer game, felt the fever come back. Anna's mother took her to the doctor that night, who said it could just be strep throat.

When Anna wasn't feeling better the next day, Liz Tomalis took her back to the emergency room where doctors found a large mass on her liver.

"They put an IV in my arm, which I hated. I was pretty scared. I went to Johns Hopkins Hospital ER and lots of doctors came in and out and asked lots of questions. I had to get more tests and finally at 3 a.m. (!), got to a room in the Children's Center," Anna wrote in an entry on her CaringBridge Web site.

"The next morning we met a whole bunch of doctors and they operated on me a week later. Dr. Lau (the surgeon) took out a football, (how did THAT get in there?) I named the tumor Mr. Bob. I was glad that Dr. Lau made him leave! A week later, we found out that the tumor was cancer. The next day, I went home," she added.

There's a lot more from her journal that I could include, but I just wanted you all to get a feel for the character of this young lady. She is one special gal.

Every so often, something big happens that radically changes the way things are usually done. Not all change is good; conversely, not all change is bad, either. Sometimes things change because there are better ways to do things. Other times, change happens because it's the natural progression of things. We shouldn't be afraid of change nor should we be afraid to change.

Which brings me to the topic at hand. The editors at Patuxent Publishing, which produces this newspaper as well as the Columbia Flier, called a meeting of all the neighborhood columnists to discuss the changes coming soon in the way that we will deliver your community news to you.

Now, don't get excited -- the neighborhood columns are still going to be published (so all of us need your continued support by sending us your items of interest). But, the big change is a new feature that will help us be more timely in getting out late-breaking items that arrive too late for the paper.

Ever hear of a "blog"? The paper is going to start an online blog -- short for Web log -- for each of the neighborhood columnists, among others, where we will be able to post items of interest. The really cool thing is that you will be able to comment on the blog. It will open up a whole new way to communicate -- instantly. I'm really excited about this. I hope you all are, too.

Congratulations are in order for Pam Wilburn, a first-grade instructional assistant at Fulton Elementary School. Sydney Cousin, superintendent of Howard County schools, will award her the Distinguished Assistant Award for Howard County Public Schools. She will be honored May 13 at a reception at Wilde Lake High School, in Columbia. Way to go, Pam!

I just wanted to plug the upcoming yard sale that is being sponsored by the Reservoir High School Touchdown Club. Mark your calendars: it'll take place June 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. One space, the size of a parking space, is $15 with additional spaces being $5. For more information or to reserve your spot, e-mail RHSyardsale@comcast.net. More about this in a later column.

For vacation planning purposes, I thought I'd pass on the factoid that the last day of school in Howard County is June 16. There were two inclement weather days off this year, both of which occurred in February. Thank God we had a mild winter or the kids would be still in school over the Fourth of July weekend.

Well, that's all for now. Look after your neighbors. Remember our troops who are serving in harm's way and their families. Commit a random act of kindness.

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