Relay for Life- the annoying, frustrating productive day/ evening part 2

 Here it is Tuesday the 14th of May and I am still fighting to recuperate from Relay. Even though I did nap for a short time there around 2am or so, most of the time I was awake and enjoying the event. People I know are still asking me how it went. I give them my best, "you should have been there " smile and then proceed to give them the highlights.
 Did I mention that I took a test drive during the Ford Test drive event? I was very happy to help out in raising money for Relay, but I made a poor choice in what to ride in. Having driven an SUV for years now, I should have chosen an SUV because the car that I rode in was cramped and crowded. It was a nice vehicle don't get me wrong, it just had no room. But I got a free shirt out of the deal so it wasn't all bad.
 Have I mentioned how walking that survivor walk makes me feel? Okay yeah, it is odd walking past people who are clapping....but then, I and everyone walking deserve that applause, we beat cancer. We are walking, talking, dancing, prancing, singing, shouting, proof that it can be done. We all started out under somewhat similar circumstances in that we were diagnosed with cancer. Then our battles become personal as we fought in our own way. Some kept it quiet, preferring that as few people as possible knew. Some shouted it to the world- fight with me- help me beat this. Some struggled as others grew stronger. In the end we found ourselves wearing purple survivor shirts, walking around a track lined by people all applauding us.
  The one thing that I was grateful for was the help of family, friends and teammates during the night. My niece needed volunteer hours for school so I happily agreed to help her out there. She took care of the site a couple of times during the night. Her mother watched it a couple of times so I could walk a lap or two. One team mate and fellow survivor who was there was not able to spend too much time with me as she has a site of her own....right beside her race car. Yeah Brenda..still working on putting the person I work with in a car that does so much over 100 mph. It was cool however getting to walk over and check out the car and learn a little about it.
  I started to walk one time only to get stopped part of the way around. I stood and chatted for a few minutes only to notice that they were lighting the Lumanaria bags. I said my good byes and hurried back to the camp site to find my lighters. Once again I was searching for something that I knew I had..just had no clue as to where I had it. Which was one of the most frustrating things of the entire event- the amount of time I spent searching for stuff that I had but had no idea where. When I finally located them I handed one to my niece and one to her boyfriend and asked them to go and help light the candles.
 Walking that Lumanaria Lap is humbling, heartbreaking, and inspirational all at the same time. To see the names of those that we've lost beside the names of those who have won brings a chill and a tear.
 At one point, late in the evening, another team mate who was also helping out with the banking duty sent her son over to see if I wanted to stroll around for a while. I gladly accepted the offer. As I made my way around the track, listening to the music and wondering what the neighbors were thinking I was struck once again by all of the emotions of the event and the reasons for it. This event had drawn a large gathering of people. All brought together by various reasons for one cause. To fund an end for cancer. By the time I got around to where my site was I found it over run by teenage young men. I didn't mind, they were all just sitting around chatting calmly. When they appeared in no hurry to go anywhere I kept walking. It was the most walking I was able to do and I loved every minute of it.
 When the guys finally had been still as long as they could they began to wander off a couple at a time. I was glad that I was close when they did but as late as it was there wasn't much worry of anything getting gone as the crowds had thinned. Now it was the die hards and committed that were there. I knew that I would be there until the sun come up, I just wished that the others were as committed, even as I understood that sometimes you just can't stay.
  I helped when I saw that they were gathering the Lumanaria bags. It was right about the time of my short nap, I'm guessing that someone made a noise as they went by blowing out the candles that woke me. When I saw what was going on I unwrapped myself from the blanket and stood. Walking over I helped dump the candles from the bags and trash the bags. When we had gotten the rest of the way around the track they decided to take a break before gathering up the wooden blocks that held the candles. Since I was rested I went ahead and began to gather the blocks and pile them up for easier gathering and boxing.
  By the time I had made my way half way or better around the track you could see the sky beginning to lighten. Our co-chair called us together for a final recognition and prayer. Following that was the last lap of the event. It was sad in a way. It was over. All the work all of those months culminated in this..and now it was all over but the taking down and cleaning up.
 The final wrap up event is coming up. We'll turn in any money that we have made and hear how everyone did in their fundraising. We'll laugh, we'll applaud and we'll plan for next season. Because until cancer is defeated- we aren't going away.