"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.” Mary Anne Radmacher
Friday night was relay and it was unforgettable. It was such a awesome experience. I am finding it hard to really put it into words.
We had a huge campsite with posters and balloons to show everyone who our team was and why we were there. We gathered there with our family and friends.
The posters I designed turned out really well. Each team member had a poster showing their names and age of diagnosis.
The weather was perfect.
There was a threat of rain but it turned out to be sunny and warm.
My support group was chosen to do the ribbon cutting and lead the first lap of the relay. The first lap was a survivors lap. Our families joined in for the second part of the lap.
It was so much fun! Everyone was cheering us on as we walked. I was so incredibly proud to be walking with all these survivors. I felt so empowered by the experience, so happy that I have made it through this tough year of my life.
Proud that my family was there with me cheering me on. Little E turned to me as we were leaving and hugged me. She told me how proud she was of me and that I was strong. I almost cried.
As we walked the sun started to go down and the stadium lights slowly turned on. The energy in the stadium was electric.
My brother and his girls came to walk with us for a while. The girls had a ball.
Little E blew so many bubbles, and had so much fun. She is such my social child. She was in her element.
Later in the evening we were able to light our own luminary. We all gathered around to remember loved ones that have passed and loved ones who are fighting everyday.
Then they turned off the lights, and everyone collectively help their breath. It was a beautiful sight. The whole track was glowing with candle light.
It was an incredible sight seeing so many lights, representing so many people. People with cancer just like me.
Around 10:30 Super Daddy took Miss H and Little E home to sleep in their own beds. Big E stayed with me all night. She was a real trooper.
There were a lot of different themed laps. One was the newspaper and duck tape fashion lap. Big E wanted to be in the contest for the best outfit. So we made her a party dress out of newspaper and pink tape. When I picked the paper up to make the front of the dress there was a pink breast cancer ribbon in an article about cancer. It was meant to be! It really stood out on the front of the dress and made it just perfect.
The back of the dress was even cute!
She won the contest and got a prize, a purple blanket with the relay logo on it. It really was no contest her dress was clearly the best. No others came close.
We ate pizza during the pizza madness lap at 12:00 am, collected candy on the goody bag lap, wore silly hats and carried our Bcause banner on our team lap, and remembered our friends and loved ones on the remembrance lap.
We rested when we needed to in our tent we brought, but did not sleep. Halfway through the night I got blisters on my feet and was really tired. I had an awesome time though and can't wait to do it again next year.
After the sun came up and we packed up our campsite and gathered around to hear one of our Bcause sisters Renee speak about what Relay meant to her. She did a great job.
Our official mascot was there, her name is Pinky. She walked along with us for part of the night. She needed to go home to rest her paws, but she came back in the morning to help us finish the race.
Our local relay raised over $70,000, and our team raised over $7,000. Three of our members raised over $1000! It was a very successful race. I plan on participating again next year. It was so much fun!
You sound so uplifted by this experience - I am so glad.
That quote at the beginning of your post is exceptional.
Posted by: mary | May 17, 2009 at 04:18 PM
Amazing! I am at a loss for words right now! I have never been to one of these and wow, so empowering. Congrats on such success and beating your cancer!
Your daughter's little dress was perfect. Very clever!
Posted by: DVMsWife | May 17, 2009 at 04:34 PM
This put a smile on my face and tears in my eyes all at the same time. I'm so proud of all you ladies! Great job.
Di
The Blue Ridge Gal
(so happy you are here in this world blogging with us)
Posted by: Di | May 17, 2009 at 05:45 PM
That is just awesome! What a great event. I LOVED the newspaper dress. No way anyone could have beaten that!
Posted by: The Wife | May 17, 2009 at 10:06 PM
Thank you for sharing this experience with us! I really enjoyed reading about.
Posted by: Chocolate and Whine | May 17, 2009 at 10:32 PM
Ah, the newspaper dress was genius!! Glad to hear that it was so inspirational!
Posted by: Stephanie | May 17, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Well done to everyone involved. The newspaper dress is amazing.
Posted by: tracey petersen | May 18, 2009 at 05:11 AM
Haha. Big E did tell me about the newspaper dress at the social. AWESOME! It was really fun, and I'm glad we came.
Posted by: Margaret | May 18, 2009 at 04:53 PM
What a great day! Thank you for sharing with us! Love the dress Big E was wearing! So creative!
Thank you for stopping by my blog! You have gorgous pictures and I will be back to see you!
Posted by: Paint Girl | May 19, 2009 at 03:50 AM
A beautiful day!
Posted by: hayseed | May 19, 2009 at 10:58 AM
What an inspirational day you must have had! Just reading about your day gave me such a warm and tingly feeling! Thank you for giving us a peek into your life!
Posted by: Teri | May 19, 2009 at 01:24 PM
What a wonderful day and night! Thank you so much for sharing it with us..
annie
Posted by: Firefly Hill | May 19, 2009 at 04:46 PM
That looked a fantastic day. Thank you for sharing it and well done to you all. It sounds and looks like it was a very fun day.
The newspaper dress was lovely, very pretty.
Posted by: Samantha ~ Holly & Zac ~ | May 19, 2009 at 05:50 PM
such a wonderful post, sarah. i loved reading all the details. what an amazing experience.xo.
Posted by: molly | May 21, 2009 at 11:50 PM