Our hearts are broken today. The band of sisters that is Scrapbook Generation's core has a missing link. Linda Hoover, the fiesty pint-sized dynamo who loved scrapbooking and creating cards, died in a car crash last night.

Karin heard about the accident on the morning news, and she has already confirmed it with Linda's husband David. Her car was the only one involved, and they believe it is possible that she died of natural causes, possibly a blood clot, prior to the wreck.

Linda was at the store yesterday afternoon, taking our regular third-Thursday-of-the-month Anna Griffin class. She came in early with a bag of McDonald's burgers and fries in one hand and a hot fudge sundae in the other and settled into the classroom area like it was her home -- which it was.

I met Linda before we opened our store. To get a feel for what was being offered, I attended crops at two other stores, and at both, Linda and I were seated at the same tables. I wasn't surprised when she was one of the first ladies to walk through the door the first day we opened in October, 2004. And the rest is history. She became a fixture at our retreats and Midnight Madness crops and at classes of every kind. And more than that, along the way she became a dear friend. Loyal, encouraging, supportive. So interested and concerned about others. A former nurse who listened to all our medical problems. A genuinely nice person who loved to tickle Drew and Jackson until they laughed out loud. A kind-hearted soul who had more medical problems than she could count, but who never complained.

Today is going to be hard. So will the next days and weeks and months. And not just on us, but on the many of you who knew Linda through this bonding experience we call scrapbooking. As we say so many times in our lives, I can't believe she's gone.