By now we’ve all, at one time or another, either lost someone close to us or have them survive the disease called cancer. In my case, I lost my mother and mother-in-law, but have a cousin that beat it. Both my mothers were only fifty-seven years old when they lost their fight with
breast cancer and lung cancer, and in both cases, if the disease was detected just a bit earlier, they would have been still alive, and that fact hurts too much. In my cousin’s case, she got on it early and with the love of her family, awesome doctors and an aggressive treatment, she is today cancer free! That’s something to celebrate!
My mom adored my little girl, her namesake. She spent a lot of time with her, (potty training her at six months, if you can believe it) teaching her to walk and not crawl on her butt; spending over-nights with her and when I think of Easter’s spent coloring eggs, I can’t help but smile! After sixteen years, I am sure that she misses her Baka very much. We all do.
To honor those that passed and those that survived is what Relay for Life is all about. 
My girl is willing to walk all night to honor her relatives and yours (if you let her) that had survived Cancer and the one’s that passed. We need to get behind those that are still fighting and infuse not only our prayers, but some of our cash as well.
When it comes to a worthy cause, I have no shame, so I’ll beg if necessary to help whomever needs not just my voice, but my funds as well. To imagine those minimum donations of $5 multiplied by five, ten and fifteen people, applied towards ‘beating the enemy’ such as cancer, it makes my heart sing!
If you’d like to help my girl reach her goal of $150.00 and give NO MORE than five bucks, please sign up here (takes no more than five minutes of your time) and let her know in whose name the donation is, as she will have the Luminaries with all those names light up the night sky.
On my part, I would love to hear from you and if you’re comfortable to share, your personal story of either a survival or a passing. To three of you (regardless of donation), I’ll happily send books of their choice (from the stack that is ever-growing). It’s the least I can do for my faithful followers!
Thank you all so much for always supporting me.
Melanie
Mel this is awesome. I work at a cancer center, and volunteer to work these events ever summer. It is such a moving expierence to be with the survivors and those still fighting as they come together to remember and celebrate. I have “lost” many wonderful people, they will always be in my heart. But it is the good stories that keep me going, even if sometimes it feels like they are few and far between. So I am happy to hear that your girl is participating. I hope you will get the chance to go with her, even for a little bit. =)
Lexi!
Thanks so much for stopping by! I admire you for what you do every day. I know from first hand experience that it cannot be easy (I volunteered at a nursing home where my mom used to work, and what I saw there was traumatic so much that I could not handle it after one day!).
It takes a very special and extremely compassionate person to be doing this and I thank you for it.
My condolences to you for all those that you’ve lost.
I hope to be with her too. It will be a great experience to share.
Mel
You will have to let me know how the day turns out =)
That is great that she is walking! We are currently raising money for my Uncle David who found out a month ago that he has Stage 3 lung cancer, so I cannot send her the 5, but I hope other people will. My husband has had Thyroid cancer. His father, Aunt and grandmother all died the same year, all from Colon cancer…my husband gets a colonoscopy every year and my sons will do the same before too long. My stepfather died from lung cancer 10 years ago. We’ve had other distant family relatives die of cancer as well. I hope they find a cure soon, it cannot happen soon enough.
Rhiannon, thanks Babe! I think it’s awesome! More power to her, I say! I am so sorry to hear about your Uncle David
and I hope you guys band together and help him. We just did something like that in regards to my brother’s funeral. It helps to have a large family and when they’re willing to step up and help with the bills. My brother past without leaving a will, and it can be a mess, but some of my family has been wonderful and very supportive (I won’t talk about the ones that have been plain mean, as each family, I’m sure has plenty of those in their midst!).
I hope your DH is better now, and my Prayers go out to you today. You are right in making him stay on top of it. My DH refuses to see a doctor and it bothers me to no end!
Hoping for a cure as well!
Mel
Kudos to your daughter, you must be so proud of her. I echo what Rhiannon said in that I hope a cure is found soon. I can only be thankful that my immediate family are healthy; my aunt succumbed to nose cancer but I was a toddler then & hardly remember her. I’ve had colleagues who passed away from cancer and at relatively young ages, with young children left behind, which is always so heartbreaking.
Linda, thanks so much and I am. very proud
I honestly don’t understand why we haven’t made more progress with this illness!
Sorry to hear about your aunt
But you are so right about young people succumbing to it and leaving the kids behind. It certainly brakes ones heart….
That’s so great what you and your daughter are doing.
Thanks Chick!
I’m looking forward to it
Mel
Mel -
I’m going to be making a donation in honor of the courage of my three Aunts and my best friend Sheila all of whom fought the fight with courage and strength. One reason my sister and I are cancer survivors is because of their efforts to enlighten us to make a quick response when we were diagnosed.
I don’t have a printer at home so I can’t print theform but will do it when I go back to work on Tuesday.