Relay For Life of Hillsboro 2010

I started this post yesterday. I was either too emotional or too tired from the day because it just didn't get published.

Another wonderful Relay has come and gone. It seems strange to spend 11 (sometimes long) months preparing for 24 hours. But Relay is a 24 hour event that needs all of that planning! And, it is an event that is planned/organized by several wonderful people – myself included!

There are always the “goods” and “bads” to everything we do in life. Relay is no exception.

The actual event usually seems to pass by quickly. I always end up missing some of the activities, games or bands. I have yet (in my 6 years) to see the Drummers that everyone raves about. I get outbid on an auction item that I was hoping to get. I’m usually busy during a 2pm walking shift and end up with a 3am one instead. And there are so many Luminaria for me to read and take pictures of that the hour long quiet time just isn’t quite enough.

There are the “long” parts of Relay too. The Survivor Ceremony seems like it takes forever to get through – it’s either raining on our poor Survivors or they are baking in the sunshine. I was told, more than once this year, that they’d rather be getting the extra vitamin D tho! Counting (and re-counting) donations and entering them into the system always feels like that 6+ hours that it takes me to do. And even when the Closing Ceremony is only 10 minutes long, it feels like 40. I’ve usually been awake for more than 30 hours by this time and am exhausted and sore when I get up on the stage to help my Committee. But that’s when I say to myself – “I don’t have cancer.”

I don’t have cancer. I’m a healthy 35 yr old Mother, Daughter, Sister, Girlfriend and Friend.

I meet new people – from the Committee to Team Captains to participants and all of their families and friends. I see Survivors return each year to be honored and smile as they walk their lap. And sometimes, unfortunately, I don’t see them.

I encourage people to get involved with Relay. They find their own reasons to fight back against cancer.

Yes, it can sometimes be overwhelming to be on the Committee as well as be a Team Captain. But, I do what I do for them; the Survivors. I do what I do so that I don’t have to lose another loved one to cancer. I do what I do to educate people on what they can do to survive. I do what I do for better treatments. I do what I do so that I can continue to say “I don’t have cancer.”

I started participating in the Relay For Life of Hillsboro in 2005 for my Aunt Tami. My first team, Tami’s Dugout, supported me that year and we’ve continued to grow for the past 6 years. Tami’s Dugout, Tami’s Guys & Dolls, Tami’s Stars & Stripes, Tami’s Reading Railroad, Tami’s Full-House of Champions and Tami’s CUREageous Sprites – you’ve all been wonderful! We’ve raised more than $43,000 for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Hillsboro.

And I just wanted to say THANK YOU!

I do have pictures to share from the event. You know how I am tho - I have 2 disks of pictures to look through and edit and that takes time. Time that I need to fit in to my day, and hopefully soon!