there is always hope

Relay for Life on Friday was a night full of emotions. As the stresses of the week continued to loom over me, even though a good amount of them were over, other things weighed heavily on my mind - the remembrance of a neighbor losing his life too quickly from cancer's sharp poison, a grandmother and aunt fighting to save their lives because of breast cancer that had metastasized. Watching the members of my team join together to remember and celebrate was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed or been a part of.

As the luminaria lap began, we joined hands, linked arms and walked in a small, quiet pack around the beautifully lit drillfield, the center of our campus, and at that moment, the center of our hearts. We understood what that lap meant for ourselves and for others, and we respected the moment with complete silence. As tears began to fall and heads began to bow, I could not help but to remember the toll that cancer truly takes in our lives. When our loved ones heard those three piercing words "You have cancer," I know their world stopped for one split second as all of the questions and realizations began to pour in around them.

I hope to never hear those three words. I hope that my parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, future husband and children never have to hear those three words. I want to see a cure in my lifetime. I do not want my children to worry about potentially hearing those three words "You have cancer." I want to fight this disease - and I want to win.

You can never understand the effects of cancer unless it affects you personally. What I would give to take back all of the months of hardships that my family members went through - I would place it all on myself in a split second if we could go back in time. Watching someone battle cancer is one of the scariest and saddest sights I have ever witnessed. Helpless, brittle, sorrow - you can see it when you look into their eyes. Their eyes speak one thousand words that they cannot say.

As my team finished our luminaria lap together, we stopped on the side of the track - took a minute to ourselves and then our emotions set in. All of the memories came traveling back to us. Seeing our friends express their sorrow made my own sorrow that much more painful. As we all embraced with loving arms, tears streaming down our faces, we realize how much cancer affects us all. Whether that be in our personal lives, or whether it is the fact that seeing a friend who has struggled with cancer in some way in their lives become upset - it all affects us. We just held each other. We stood for several minutes - silent. Shaking, crying, loving. This is why we are together on this one day - to help. To help each other in these times of sorrow, to be the rock that we need to get through the night.

Thank you to all of my friends. You all inspire me to an extent that you do not even understand. To my rock, my support system - my faithful, loyal friends - thank you. I love each and every one of you more than you will ever know.

Cancer is the most awful, life-changing disease ever-known to walk the face of our earth. I want everyone to continue to fight the battle to cure this disease so our children won't have to.

Do it so your friends can live the pleasurable, successful, and brilliant lives they deserve. We can find a cure - one person at a time.