I did the Rely For Life again this year. This time Me and Dallas both were on a team. We were on a team with the Fire Department. It's always a bitter-sweet day for me. The opening ceremony is always really hard. It forces you to come face to face with the reality of what has happened in your own life, and to see how many people are now going through the same thing. But, we always have a lot of fun! I didn't have my camera, so I snapped a few pictures with my cell phone.
After the opening ceramony, they start with a survivors walk. The little boy in front just finished fighting his bttle with Leukemia. He was one of the Grand Marshalls.
Then all of the teams start walking, All of the firemen wore their gear for the first couple of laps. They were all dying of heat!
Here's a picture of most of our team.
The kids came on the first lap with us. They had a lot of fun. We all stayed all night. It started at 6:00 p.m friday, and ended at 12:00 noon on Saturday. We ended up leaving about 2 hours early because Avery was exhusted and very onry! The way it works, is after everyone walks as a team, you have to have at least one team member on the track at all times. All night long. There was also lots of fun things to do. They had all kinds of carnival-type games for the kids. Every team does their own fundrising so there was lots of stuff to buy, lost of auctions, and lots of food!! And all of the proceeds, go to the American Cancer Society. It's a great thing. This is one place that I don't even hesitate to spend money. I wasn't there to hear what the final count was, but last time I did the relay, they made over seventy thousand dollars. That's pretty good for such a small community!
They had this HOPE sign up in the sky, and the luminary bags all the way around the track, to light the way, each one had the name of someone who has or has had cancer, and lots of names of people who have died of cancer. They also had a band playing most of the time. In the morning, they had a magician come. The kids loved that! I hope to be involved in this event every year. It's great to see so many people come together and share their own experiences. P.S. My friend just told me that she heard they made $90,000 this year!!
6 comments:
What an amazing experience! I had no idea it lasted all night long.
How neat! Tina is smiling down on you :)
Good job... Joni, Dallas and your three amigos! Your an awesome sister!
What an awesome amazing experience it was. I will do it every year as well. The opening ceremony is sooooo emotional and touching. At the end it was so cool too, they put everyone's names from the luminaria bags on to balloons and at the same time they released them all into the air, and each balloon was filled with forget me not flower seeds, so when it bursts they will fall to the ground and grow those flowers. Just a wonderful wonderful amazing experience!!! It was great to see you there!!! Oh and the grand total was 96,200 dollars raised!!! :)
Jo, what an amazing tribute to your beautiful little sister. She is so lucky to have you for a big sis, and know that you are doing all she would do herself were she here!
What a neat experience. I was able to do this 2 yrs ago in honor of the Dr. that I worked for pasted away of cancer. It was so fun! Love all the pictures.
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