By and large, I have been fortunate enough to have not been affected in major ways by that dreaded disease, cancer. There is no doubt, our family knows friends who have battled...some have fought and survived and some have not.
I know just enough to be terrified of that reality...and for fear that I am somehow attracting that reality, I don't even want to put energy or focus on it even as I type this right now.
But the fact is....cancer affects countless families each and every day....a reality that smacked me right in the face last night during Summerville's Relay for Life, which I had the great opportunity to experience.
I wasn't sure what to expect but I wasn't expecting the intensity I felt and the tug at my heart as I walked the track with the kids and my good friends. We read the names and saw the pictures on the luminary bags that flickered as we walked past. Those bags were PEOPLE....lives forever changed by a prognosis....families altered....hearts broken....lives cut short....but also SURVIVORS....those who heard those dreaded words by a physician and still, for reasons only known to God, put on their game face, went into treatment, and came out of that illness to live healthy and happy lives.
The night was about honoring memories as well as those who proudly wore their purple t-shirts, giving hope to others who will walk that same road. And while I sometimes felt out of place, not sure I had "earned" my way onto that track, I was filled with joy to participate and to see my children walk that track and know that maybe in some small way, I was doing my part to honor those who have lost their battles and honor those who lived through theirs.
It was an experience I am grateful for....and one I hope to have again next year.
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