Relay for Life

All I can say is "WOW!" It seems like God keeps putting things in front of me that touch my heart in huge ways and tonight was no exception.

This word so boldly declared above....HOPE....is spelled out with luminaries given in honor or in memory of people who have had cancer. There were more luminaries there than I would have ever been able to count, but I couldn't pass up this picture...only four letters, but SO much meaning.

I went to the American Cancer Society's Relay f0r Life event for our county tonight. I go every year because my sister is involved in it with my niece's school, and every year I come away amazed and grateful for the huge showing of support and for the number of people who pour so much of themselves into this cause.

I got there with Grace shortly before the 'Survivor's lap' around the track. Last year was the first year I had been there for that part and was absolutely moved to tears just looking into the faces of so many people who had survived this dreaded disease. I couldn't help but to imagine all they had dealt with, then to see children holding banners stating how many years they have been a 'survivor,' then seeing how grateful everyone was just to be able to take this 'survivor walk,' all I could do was stand there, unable to speak, with huge tears in my eyes. What I really wanted to do was lay down on the ground and SOB but that would have been kinda silly lookin' (!!)...that IS what I wanted to do though!

So with that being last year, I sort of knew what to expect tonight, but it still stirred up huge emotion looking into all these faces again. I saw several people I recognized during the 'survivor lap' that I didn't even know had had cancer. It's just very eye opening. There was one little girl there that is obviously going through chemo right now....she's probably between 8 and 10 years old. She had lost her hair and was sitting in someone's lap in a cart that was being driven around the track during the walk. Because I'm so short, I was standing on a ramp above everyone's head and had a bird's eye view of the whole thing. It was an amazing sight to see how many people are survivors of this disease. They just kept coming and coming and coming around the track. And this is only locally....it takes my breath away to think of the number on a global scale! Below is a picture below of my sister's friend, Cheryl (the blonde on the right).....a survivor (and she's my friend through my sister too). With her is the music teacher at Grace's school....evidently another survivor.

After the survivor lap, they had them do another lap with their caregivers....well....again.....BOO HOO! I don't know why I just cannot pull myself together during things like this, but I just can't. I have a friend who has been seriously battling cancer for 6.5 years now and just knowing her story as personally as I do drives home what I know so many of these families have dealt with....and it's just very touching. So there we were, clapping, cheering them on, and crying even more!

A little bit later, they had the sponsors all come around the track with their group. The pictures I took of the banner and everything from Grace's school turned out blurry, but I'm going to try to get Cheryl to send me a couple that she took, so I'll post them when she does. The banner looked great and they had on matching shirts. Hopefully they will get the award for 'most spirited.' They had a baseball theme with 'Strike Out Cancer' as the slogan. Cute idea!

Below is a picture from early in the evening of Grace and her friend Kaylee. Never a dull moment with Grace, that's for sure!

Anyway, as emotional as tonight was, it was a good night. It makes me grateful to know that people really do care and how many people are so responsive to such a worthy cause. I would imagine that it is a RARE person who has not had their life touched by cancer in some way, whether through a family member, friend or acquaintance. It is one of my biggest prayers that we will soon see some sort of answer or cure for this disease....tomorrow would not be soon enough!