This year will be my third Relay for Life. I’ll stay up all night walking, celebrating, and remembering. Before I get there, will have attended fundraisers, made Facebook posts, and ruthlessly handed people flyers to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This isn’t my first Relay. I’ve done it all before, and I’ve enjoyed it. But this is my first Relay that’s hitting close to home.
Every year, the students and administrators who organize this incredible event ask participants, “Why do you relay?” I’ve never really had a concrete answer before. Yes, I’ve known people with cancer. And yes, I have friends whose relatives have lost their battles. But it’s never been me. This year, I can answer, “I relay for Auntie.”
My beautiful aunt and godmother was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called multiple myeloma. I am not an expert on it by any means. I don’t know what it does to her body, or to her immune system, or to her muscles. But I do know what it does to her family.
I am fortunate to have an incredibly supportive family, so I know that she is in good hands. But I live far from home, and I can’t be there for her. I can only watch from a thousand miles away while cancer takes its toll on not only my aunt, but on her children, her parents, her siblings, her nieces and nephews, and her friends. Because that’s the thing about cancer: it doesn’t have one victim, it has dozens. And that’s why I relay. I don’t just relay for Auntie – I relay for my mom, my grandmother, my cousins, and myself. I relay for families like mine, who use all their emotional strength supporting someone who is losing physical strength. We all relay.
We relay for more birthday parties, more birthday cakes, and more birthday candles. We relay for more family vacations, for more places to explore, for more photographs in exotic locations. We relay for more families that can spend their money making memories on trips and experiences, instead of making ends meet to pay medical bills.
We relay for more children who grow up with both of their parents and all of their grandparents because they haven’t lost any to cancer.
We relay for more pizza. We relay so that people can eat the foods they want without worrying that they will make them sick after radiation and chemotherapy.
We relay for more good times – and even more bad times. We relay so that we can see more movies, make more jokes, take more spontaneous road trips. We relay so that we can have more meaningless fights and then we can make up after 10 minutes.
We relay for more hope. Hope for a future with our loved ones, a future to give to our children. Hope for a future without cancer.
We relay, and we hope you relay. Find a Relay for Life near you, and join the walk. Or find someone who relays and give them your support. For whatever reason you relay, relay. Do it for the families, for the memories, or even for the pizza. Every reason is a good reason. Join the people you love in celebrating the survivors, remembering those we have lost, and fighting back alongside those still battling.
