This past weekend I participated in Relay For Life by leading Team Stupid Cancer.
IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE!
I had never done a RFL event before so I had no idea what to expect. And it's possible that I wasn't the world's best team captain. But I am so grateful for the friends and family that joined the team. And everyone that stopped by to say "Hello" during the event.
This post would be incredibly long if I wrote about everything, but I just want to include the highlights:
Girl child and some of her friends joined the team!
Teen boy came to visit and walk some laps with his mom. And he didn't die.
Team Stupid Cancer was AWESOME! We raised over $3,500!
Yeah to Lynn who stayed the entire time with me!
Yeah to Shay who came at 3AM and walked through the early morning hours!
Awesome friends who came and walked an hour here and there, or stayed for awhile and put in MANY laps. Next year, we will track our laps walked better.
The luminaria ceremony was incredible! I wish I'd known just how moving it would be. I would've made sure that my whole team was there to experience it. And my friend Senator Andy Hill was the guest speaker for the ceremony so it felt even more special to me.
There was entertainment throughout the event, including a beauty pageant...where the guys did their best imitation of beauty queens. One of the teens I've known since he was very young participated in the event. It was so much fun to watch!
I felt loved all weekend because friends who were not participating kept stopping by to do a lap to two (or more), bring beverages and snacks, and just say hi and cheer us on. THANK YOU!
My survivor friends were out in force!!! Hooray to all of us! Keep up the fight!
Feeling like you missed out? Oh, you did. But not to worry. I will definitely be doing this again, and my goal is to have a HUGE team next year. You can join us!
Thank you to all of you that donated to the cause!
I'm really and truly doing this, folks. And it's getting closer and closer. So, if you've ever thought about joining, NOW is the time!
Here's the link to join my team. Contact me with any questions that you have.
Fundraising is minimal...they ask that you raise $100 or more, but not a requirement. The registration fee is only $10.
Yes, it is an overnight event. But you don't have to be there the entire time. Or even walking the entire time. The goal is for every team to have someone (or more than one person) on the track every hour of the event. But the entire team doesn't have to be out there at once.
Yes, some of the teams are going to be wild and crazy and probably have costumes and who knows what else. I don't actually see us being that, but you are more than welcome to help us find our slightly crazy side.
It's supposed to be a fun event, that brings the community together, to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. Cancer survivors take the first lap, and it's a pretty cool experience. JOIN ME!
Alright, alright, I know it's not really Friday. I am usually SO exhausted on Friday evening that I just barely manage to stay awake long enough to eat dinner. But I like the alliteration, so Friday Five it will remain...even if it really is Sunday.
Here's this week in a nutshell:
1) Another dear friend started chemo this week. I am grateful to have been through this process so that I can answer any and all questions that she has, but her having cancer really makes me angry. This cancer thing is complete crap folks. COMPLETE. CRAP. As in, it's high time we started spending large sums of money on RESEARCH. Not "cancer awareness" but actual RESEARCH. (I will be ranting on this topic another day...I have lots to say). Grrrr.
2) I got an adorable hand-drawn "thank you" POSTER from a student. She was really grateful for the presentation that I gave her class about good books to read. WOW! If that doesn't put a smile on your face, nothing will!
3) The Relay for Life people changed the date, and then changed it back to the original one. There was a flurry of completely unorganized emails from them for about a week. All is settled now, and apologies abound, but they were driving me crazy for awhile. If I didn't want to participate in this SO BADLY, I'd be tempted to try again next year. But all is good, and there's still some spots on the team if you're considering joining!! And the date really is June 7, 2014. And they promise not to change it again.
4) The daughter talked me into doing the Hot Chocolate 5K next Sunday...as in the one coming up in 7 days. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Now it seems like the CRAZIEST idea I have EVER had. Oh, we will be walking this 5K, there is no doubt of that. But we will finish!
5) This week, every book I read was about some kid with cancer (or other life-threatening illness). Seriously, I did not plan this, and didn't really even know what any of them were about when I opened them up. But I definitely cried while reading one of them, and had some flashbacks while reading all of them. And Keith laughed at me for continuing to read them all since I was clearly bringing the punishment on myself. It was REALLY hard to read them, but I also couldn't stop. It's like a trainwreck...I couldn't look away.
