Relay for Life event

I was really not sure about going. I'm don't consider myself a cancer survivor, I barely like to even remember I had cancer in the first place. But I remind myself that I have had to do "battle" with it and so far, I'm winning.

That out of the way, I went to a Relay for Life in Vancouver last Saturday. This is the Saturday belonging in the hottest weekend of the year so far and felt like you were in hell. Vancouver is not supposed to get that freaking hot!!!

Anyways, I registered and was able to get a free purple survivor tshirt. They were having a survivor photo shoot at 10am. Thanks to car problems, we got there about 5 minutes after the picture was taken. I'm so bummed about it. Anyways, we get in the track with tons of survivors. There are some opening remarks and a celebrity spokesperson says a few words. Then, the master of ceremonies says for the survivors to take the first lap. Everyone else including sponsers and friends and family get on the sideslines and cheer us on. They are clapping and cheering us as we walk together around the track. I couldn't do it alone and Jason held my hand and walked with me. My heart was literally in my throat and tears were streaming down my face. It was such a very special moment. I didn't feel like a hero at all. But I'm so far surviving this wretched disease so I guess I'm do okay.

After that, all the sponsers and groups walked so we could see how participated. My cancer center had a team and my nurse Janelle was there with her little girl. It was nice to see all the nurses there. It's great and they knew me by name and called out to me when we went by their booth. The booths were on the outside perimeter of the track. So after all the intros were over, dh and I walked around to see all the groups. Each group had a booth and there were raffles and prizes everywhere. At the hospital booth, they had a quilt that caught my eye. All the fabrics that were used in my quilt that my friend made me, were in the quilt up for raffle. All the material was created and sold to raise money for breast cancer research. So I was impressed to see that someone had made this quilt for the raffle. They had it appraised for $600. Mine was just as good or better than the one for auction, so I knew I had a valuable quilt if I ever sold it, which I never will. The thought and actions behind the making of it, make me love it more than money is worth. I still signed up for that raffle. It was worth it.

Next, we went to the Survivor's tent. They had a special area for survivors where we could get free drinks, have a place to sit and rest, and have lunch. We were treated by Outback Steakhouse to a free lunch. Each plate had steak, chicken, rice pilaf, black bread, and caesar salad. Then we got a piece of cake from this bakery in town. By then, the survivor picturew as developed and all the survivors were given a copy of the picture set on a nice background. After that was a drawing with like 20 prizes. None of which I won. Oh well. We walked all over the place to see everything. I wanted to stay for hours, but it was too dang hot and humid and we had to get the girls.

We came back that night where I was hoping to see the luminaria bags lit. White lunch bags were decorated and lined up on the inside edge of the track. Unfortunately, it was going to be lit around 11pm and we wouldn't be able to see it. I would have given anything to stay but the girls were stretching their limits on how well they could behave. They were great and we didn't want to push our luck.

So all in all, it was a good experience. I recognized one lady from chemo and chatted with her for a few minutes. Otherwise, I didn't see anyone else I knew. I was just amazed at how many cancer survivors there were. Like I said, I was bawling walking that first lap. All I could think of were all these purple shirts and each one represented someone who beat cancer. It was sad how many people it had touched.