Relay for Life: SUCH a cool night!

Relay for life was so much better than I ever imagined! From the moment I arrived at the field at 6pm I felt overcome with emotion and so thankful to have taken part in something this special. Everyone there had been touched in someway by cancer and it was easy to feel an immediate bond with perfect strangers. The crowd was the perfect size. The the mood was a mixture of ward campout, school carnival and testimony meeting all mixed into one!! Teams had been formed by extended families with children who stayed the whole night, groups of girl friends, work/company friends, and older people (one even from a retirement home and they stayed up all night, too!)

For the opening ceremony the lady in charge of the Queen Creek Relay gave a speech and then they released doves into the air symbolizing hope and love. I couldn't get a hold of my mascara as I felt a closeness to my dad and watched sweet Raschell interacting with her family. Ugh. Cancer is the worst!

From there they had the survivors walk a lap which was another tear-jerker but very cool. I didn't know this before hand but Relay for Life is held globally and in most cities in the US and all cancer survivor are welcome to walk the survivor lap and enjoy a free dinner afterward (Texas Roadhouse provided ours) regardless of whether or not they participate in the relay. So cool - spread the word!

At 9pm they turned off all the lights for the luminary lap. It was again so cool, as they asked everyone to refrain from talking and let each of us walk quietly in remembrance of our loved ones. By then my tears had dried up so I was fine. I just liked that part a lot. And when they went to turn the lights back on, guess what song they played!? Tim McGraw: Live like you were Dying, my dad's! It was neat.

All night long was a party; we ate and ate, played games, danced, talked, laughed, snoozed here and there, and took our turns walking our half hour shifts. Only about ten out of the 23 of us made it all the way through the night (many headed home about 1 or 2) and it was worth it. It's definitely been a while since I stayed up to watch the sun set and the sun rise in the same night. Knowing I had done it, at 6am, felt invigorating! I am so grateful to be alive and healthy.

I highly, highly recommend getting involved with your local Relay for Life. Look it up, check it out. Next year I plan to do it again with the same group of girls only I want to involve Tyler and my kids more and have them stay the night in our family tent with me. I'm telling you, the kids who were there had a ball playing games all evening in the beautiful weather and for a good cause that made them feel good. My kids can decorate their own luminary next year for their grandpa. It will be great.


Marie, my dear friend who was our team captain and made this whole thing come together, and her family - in our shirts designed by Raschell
The doves circling the field
Ty and I when he brought the kids to visit me
Raschell and another friend preparing to walk the survivor lap

The site


Decorating my dad's luminaria
Our tent hangout







The sun's come up

We made it!!