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| Lynn Marston Dingey and John Whitney celebrate Relay for Life |
Today, I walked to Veterans Park to walk the first lap with Relay for Life. It’s supposed to be the first of a million laps walked by people all over the world who participate in Relay for Life. We will walk and walk and walk until a cure to cancer is found. Then we will walk a celebratory lap.
Unfortunately, we haven’t reached the point of the celebratory lap. People are diagnosed with cancer every day. The good news is that more people are surviving cancer. At Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, when patients achieve remission, they get to ring a bell to share their joy. The bad news is that we are still losing people we love to cancer.
Speaking about that lap, which isn’t yet a celebratory lap, it is one quarter of a mile. I was hoping to walk that lap after I walked 2.4 miles to get to the park. By the time that I arrived, the walkers had finished their quarter of a mile. Well… after all, how long can it take to walk a quarter mile? I talked to Lynn Marston Dingey, whom I had previously interviewed for an article in the Island Dispatch, about this year’s version of Relay for Life. Lynn let me know that I had walked my first lap, my second lap, my third lap, and maybe a few more!
She told me that the theme for this year’s event is “Cooking Up a Cure.” Doesn’t that sound delicious? Well, it will be delicious. Super delicious. The kickoff event, scheduled for March 12th, will feature a soup cook-off. Yum! It will be a good event. That’s when the honorary survivor is announced.
Relay for Life is scheduled for June 7th at Veterans Park. It is when we honor survivors and remember those whom we lost to cancer. We get together to raise money for the American Cancer Society’s research to find a cure to cancer. And we always have fun. We walk laps. Lots of laps. There is a survivors’ lap and there is a caregivers’ lap. The caregivers’ lap involves nearly everyone. We’ve all been touched by cancer in one way or another. Relay for Life takes away our loneliness and gives us a community that fights, hopes, and remembers together.
Let’s cook up a cure for cancer in 2019!
There are so many ways to support this cause and so many people working on the project that no one should have to feel alone and without hope.
It's been several yers since I've done Relay for Life. I have some mixed feelings about the American Cancer Society (related to my mother in law's rare cancer back in 2014 and the lack of help we were able to get from her local chapter) but one good thing about the Relay is that it doesn't concentrate on some of the more well known cancers. All cancer patients deserve support.
Hubby and I always participated in the Relay for Life in honor of your healthy children and grandchildren. In 2011 our team was going strong only to be devastated with the news that our then 38 year old son-in-law was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer. The following year our team walked the entire night (it was from evening through morning back then) and raised over $9000.00 Sadly, we lost Eric but he was a fighter to the end. How I pray a cure and prevention will be found.
I have walked in the Relay for Life. My daughter took part in the survivor's tent as well as the survivor's lap. I am so glad that you are sharing about a charity that helps those battling cancer. Thank you!
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