"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!
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