XP's fight to fund a cancer cure!

Our family participates every year in Relay For Life to raise funds to fight cancer. Basically, it is a 24 hour event where teams of people keep a walker on the track the entire time. Sometimes exhausting, but always fun.

We do it for the ones we love. Those who lost the battle with cancer, those who are still fighting, and those we hope will never have to.

Ever since I was young, I knew I would not die of old age. Grandma Evelyn died of skin cancer before I was born. Grandpa Forrest died of colon cancer when I was 8. Grandma Lucile died of lung cancer when I was 12. Grandpa Ralph died of prostate cancer when I was 15. Aunt Carol died of breast cancer when I was 18.

It is not all doom and gloom. Uncle Stan battled cancer and won. My brother-in-law Kevin went through experimental skin cancer treatment made possible by Relay For Life funding, and has been in remission since. His family -- my sister and niece -- invited me to walk with them in 2002, and since that time I have been a team member, a team captain and on the committee for our local event.

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My sister's family participated in the first local event in 2001, as Team Smiley. They had participated the previous year in another community. It was through her family that I first became aware of and involved in Relay For Life.

The Wild Bunch was our team name in 2002, and it was our first year as active team members. As part of a large team, it was a great chance to really figure out what Relay was all about, and how many opportunities there are to volunteer before and during the event.

Late in 2002, we got the devastating news that our older sister Charlotte had a huge tumor on her lung.

Almost miraculously, she seemed to make a full cancer-free recovery after surgery in early 2003. It was a year of celebration at Relay for the Family Trees team, and Kevin was a crowd favorite, walking 400 laps (that's 100 miles!) during the 24 hour event. (He had walked 300 laps in 2002, and 200 laps in 2001).

Another crowd favorite was my nephew Logan, who won the first Ms. Relay Beauty Pageant, where men dress up in lovely gowns and wigs, and the crowd "votes" for their favorite with cash donations to ACS. It was a great event, with a lot of good memories.

But Charlotte's cancer returned that fall with a vengeance, and we lost her December 1, 2003. I can no longer hear or even read the "c-word" without physical 'gut' pain and tears.

The hardest part to face: my children experienced their first loss of someone dear to them, and cancer became very real and very horrible to them, just like it did to me when my "Poopa" died in 1981. It was no longer something that happens to other people. It was personal.

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Relay 2004 was very hard. I don't think I could have made it through without my kids. They were on the committee with me, and as very active members of the Family Tree Frogs team, they really kept us all going with their determination and enthusiasm to raise funds and keep spirits high.

Our team's theme was Cancer Demolition in 2005. My children were co-captains together, along with Charlotte's youngest son. They are truly amazing kids, with huge hearts and a new compassion for all who have lost someone close. That sweet little girl could sell sand to a desert camel; to have her in charge of a donation table is hardly fair to passersby.

My only son betrayed his family and joined his school's Relay For Life team in 2006, walking 200 laps for them and instigating a mostly-friendly rivalry with his sister to raise the most money. Not to be outdone, our family team member Uncle Stan walked 200 laps as well; not too shabby for a 20-year cancer survivor. My mother and her sister Shirley were co-captains. I can not imagine what it must be like to lose both parents, your baby sister, and then your daughter to cancer. She doesn't think so, but Mom did a great job with the family team and kept us on the winning side with awards for our team camp and theme, the Beach Bums.

For the 2007 season, the We Are Family team was able to raise over $2,000 through the iHope Shop cancer fundraiser on CafePress. My kids, who are sponsored by these funds, know they are making a difference. The team brought in thousands more through community contributions brought in by each member, a fundraiser rummage sale, and the raffle of a gorgeous handmade quilt.

Lord knows it is hard, when there is a cancer-related death every single day in the news, but we keep on looking to the future with hope.

This year, we are taking a break from having our own Relay For Life team, and just showing up at local events in our own communities to walk and observe.

There are events throughout May and June in this area.

Check out www.cancer.org to see when they are happening in your region!

Help me reach my 2008 goal of $5,000 by visiting the iHope Shop ... you're bound to find something you like. (If you don't, please suggest a new design!)

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