Relay for Life 2008

I am about 2 weeks behind, but could not miss the opportunity to discuss something that means so much to me.

On May 31, I participated again in the Relay for Life of SoMoCo (Southern Montgomery County, for those of you not cool enough to understand that). It's an event that my dear friend asked me to get involved with three years ago. And I hope we do it for a hundred more years. The theme of Relay for Life is "Cancer never sleeps" and so, we don't either. We walk, eat, talk, celebrate, and remember throughout the night. There are bake sales,various other things to buy, a silent auction, dance contests, a dj, costumes, a slideshow accompanied by bagpipes, and the luminaria ceremony that lights up the night with thousands of candles.

At first glance, Relay for Life appears to be little more than barely controlled chaos, (and at times that's exactly what it is), but underneath there is a current of hope that leads the entire event to the sunrise that marks its end.

We don't cry the whole time, or talk about the devastating effects cancer has had in all of our lives. Rather, we laugh. We play Uno and Taboo for hours on end and discuss things that are completely un-important and at the same time the most important things we will ever talk about.

Because somewhere in the stillness of the night, with candles glowing against the dark sky we all realize that the best way to make a difference, is to be the difference.

And so we laugh through the silence, tears, and pain until it all disappears and nothing is left but the sound of our voices threaded through the stars.