Have you heard of or participated in the Relay for Life?

Luminarys - The Finalle of the Luminary Ceremony of 2007 Relay for life
@saundyl (9783)
Canada
June 6, 2008 12:37am CST
Every year the Canadian Cancer Society holds The Relay for Life. It raises funds and awareness of cancer for cancer research. The survivors do a survivor march ( its very neat to see the age range of those who have had and survived cancer) Then when its dark There is a Luminary Ceremony which is very very beautiful and touching,Candles are lit in hope or remembrance for loved ones with cancer. Through out the 12 hours it runs every team participating must have at least one member walking the track. Locally the event will be tomorrow night. I'm a team member and my youngest sister is participating in the survivors walk. We have done this yearly since she was 3 years old...2 years after she was diagnosed and treated for cancer. Sadly this year we were told she is no longer in remission and possibly must under go more treatment.
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5 responses
@mtrekster (179)
• United States
6 Jun 08
if anything, when my mother was able to she was in the first relay for life that was here in wv.
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
6 Jun 08
That's awesome. Thank you for responding.
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@GardenGerty (157813)
• United States
6 Jun 08
Yes, I have heard of it, no I have never participated, and probably should. I am always working too many jobs. This of course explains why we are having such awful weather, it happens every year at Relay for Life, time. So sorry about your sister. She has had a good run so far, maybe there are more advanced treatments.
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
6 Jun 08
I've noticed the bad weather trend as well every year for Relay for Life. It's a blast to participate in. My sister has had a good run...the first time around they got it with surgery and no chemo/radiation. Thank you for responding!
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@GardenGerty (157813)
• United States
6 Jun 08
That means she has lots of treatment options left that she has not had. I guess. My sister had a recurring and worsening cancer for about fifteen years. It was very atypical.
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• United States
6 Jun 08
yes, and its a lot better now for treatment options.
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• United States
24 Jun 08
The honor society at the college I go to has a Relay for Life team. My daughter and I participated last weekend. It was our first Relay and it was pretty great. I don't know if we raised a lot of money but we sure tried. We had a great time until it started to thunderstorm and we were all told we had to leave the football field. That stunk. We were all so excited to go strong all night. We had a great theme (star wars) and great ideas to keep us going unitl the morning. We are already planning for next year.
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
24 Jun 08
Sounds like you had alot of fun. The one i participate in tends to have a building "on hold" so we can continue to relay for the night.
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@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
26 Jun 08
Ahhh I understand. Most years I have participated in it I've gone home at midnight and my mom has stayed the whole night. I go home at midnight as I would take my little sister home she's only 10 this year and she never makes it past midnight staying awake.
• United States
24 Jun 08
We did have a building to go into when it started to thunderstorm but we knew our whole camp would be blown to the other side of the field so we left it so we opted to pack it up and go. Maybe we will have better weather next year. :)
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@hellcowboy (7374)
• United States
6 Oct 08
That is cool that you have the Relay For Life their my friend and here in North Carolina we have the Relay For Life every year at the end of June and this past year was like its eleventh year in this county,and my grandmother got diagnosed with cancer and beat it about eight years ago,so for the past eight years me and my mom have gone to the relay for life,and this past July me,my fiance,my mom,and my dad all went,and they had country singer Kevin Sharp there,and I got his autograph,and I think more people should try to go to the Relay For Life.
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@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
6 Oct 08
I think its awesome that they have them all over like they are...and when theres some "local celebrity" or even a national one it makes it neat. I love the survivors walk and seeing people get their hair cut for cancer.
• United States
17 Jun 08
I'm sorry to hear about your sister. In my opinion Relay For Life is one of the best cancer awareness fund raisers there is because it brings you into fellowship with cancer patients and survivors, it also honors the people who have passed away. I have done 2 relay for life's and plan on doing more. Currently I have 2 family members with cancer (one is at the end stages) and am going through a possible cancer scare myself. This program is great
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@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
17 Jun 08
I'm sorry about your family members...and hope your scare just turns out to be a scare not anything major. It is a very touching event and never fails to make me cry. I'd never participated in the end ceremonies before until the one on June 6th this year (previously I was the one to take my little sister home at midnight when she played out) The closing ceremonies and the releasing of the balloons was very nice to be able to witness. I was sad she didnt wake up from her nap to see the balloons fly. I've now been involved in 5 relays for life and intend to continue to participate.
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