Fifteen years ago on June 18, my sister and best
friend passed away from cancer. People will say that someone lost their
battle with cancer. But I don’t see it that way at all. My sister lost her
hair, she lost a lot of weight, she lost living 50 more years on this earth
with the rest of us, but she never lost the battle. Never. She never gave in to
cancer and she never gave up to cancer. After waging war for seven years, it
was just her time, and God called her home.
The following year, I started a team for the
American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
Team PALM (for Patricia Ann Loehmer Memorial). I know, ingenious of me
wasn’t it? But I’ve blogged about that before.
Yesterday was the Relay for Life here in town. I
haven’t been formally involved in the Relay for years, but the hubby and I have
continued to faithfully show up and walk a few laps, buy a few raffle tickets,
write a few luminaria bags. A month ago, the woman who heads up Kinship asked
for volunteers for the Relay and I said I could put in a couple hours helping
out wherever they needed me. Which turned into eleven hours, but that’s what happens
when you don’t wear a watch.
I ended up in charge of the luminaries. If you are
not familiar with what that is all about, for five dollars people will purchase
a white bag on which they can write a message in memory of or in honor of a
loved one. A candle is placed in each bag and at dark the candles are lit and
all the participants walk around reading the bags and it is very touching. Or
that’s how it’s supposed to work.
It had been hot and humid all day, but luckily a
wind blowing kept things comfortable. There was a chance of thunder showers in
the evening, so we kept watching the sky, wondering if and when it was safe to
put out the luminaria bags.
We finally said the heck with it and set out all
the bags on a path along the river. As darkness began to settle, we settled
into lighting the candles in each bag. And the wind continued to blow. After a
dozen or more bags caught on fire, we gave up, extinguishing the candles we had
already lite.
Was it a failure? Let my pictures of the day answer
for you.
Some times cancer seems like a long tunnel and you don't know if you will get to the other end.
But with help from family and friends, you can come out on the other side.
You may feel like your wings are damaged and you can't fly straight -
Or that life is out of balance -
Or that you don't know what to say -
Or you are just plain too tired to finish the job -
but a smile always helps.
You may also feel like it is all an uphill battle -
but sometimes the sun comes out and it all looks better from a different perspective.
You may feel like your heart is ripped in half -
Or that part of you is completely missing.
Then things can seem completely out of control and what do you do?
YOU STOMP OUT CANCER.
1 comment:
What a great picture show and narration!
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