Sunday, June 22, 2008

11 Miles of Hope

I had the privilege of participating in Relay for Life yesterday. I say it is a privilege because I was able to walk in honor of the 44 people I had listed on the sign on my back. Many of those names, were sent to me by my friends, and others were people I have known personally. I have been asked by many people "why do you go back and walk in Relay?" Well, I haven't really been able to explain why I go back and walk, but after hearing the co-chair speak at the Luminaria ceremony, I don't think I could put it into words any better:

"You come today in HOPE. That is what Relay is all about. Hope. Hope that one day your children or your children's children never have to hear the words "You have cancer." It is the hope you feel when you walk on the track. It's the hope you feel when you see the cancer survivors in the opening ceremony. For the person just diagnosed with cancer, it is the hope they find when they meet a survivor who was diagnosed with the same cancer. That is hope. For the caregivers, it is talking with other caregivers who have been in the same situation. That is hope. There is hope in celebrating those survivors who come back year after year. There is even hope in recognizing those who have lost their battle with cancer, because there is hope that through events like Relay we will raise the money which will find a cure, so other people will never have to lose their battle. We walk with hope that one day, because of what we do today, we will have no need for Relay for Life because we have a cure for this disease. That is Hope."

It was amazing, to say the least. I am sure the speaker said a few more wonderful things, but right now, I can't remember all of them. I do know that I was filled with Hope and I am still filled with Hope. I have the hope that each year when I compile, my list of people to walk for, the survivor list is longer than those who have lost their battle. I find hope in the amount of money donated to the team I participated on. That team alone brought in over $16,000...yes, that is over sixteen thousand dollars. There is hope that those dollars put us a step closer to a cure.

I walked 11 miles yesterday. That is 44 laps around the track. That is one lap for each person on my list. That is not something I did on purpose, it just ended up working out that way. One lap to celebrate each person, one lap to remember those we've lost, one lap closer to a cure. At the end of the day, even though I was sunburned (even though I kept applying sunscreen) and I had a few little blisters, even though I was a smelly, sweaty mess, I had hope. Sometimes, hope is all we have to hang on to, and sometimes hope just has to be enough. Remember, there is HOPE! Until next time, Diva Divine

1 comment:

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