Most people think Relay For Life is an annual event, actually Relay For Life is a year-round event. Just like cancer never sleeps, neither does Relay For Life.
So, in Culpeper, we're pushing the initiative to make Relay For Life a year-round event. Through parades, expos, pinics, kick-offs, and Bark For Life (yes, Relay for dogs) in October we will MAKE CANCER HISTORY!
Yesterday, we participated in the Brandy Station Parade. Brandy Station is basically one road. And, it's annual fair is larger than Albemarle County's (in my opinion) and is totally community run rather than commercially. There were 216 entries in the parade. We were spot #23 (woowee!). We got 2nd place in the Civic Division!
The 'FLOAT'
As we rode the parade route a few things struck me.
- All the kids, yelled and pointed to our float while they told their parents about Relay For Life. Yes! Kiddos know about cancer and how they can help thanks to most of our schools having teams.
- I could see some of the older folks reading our signs. When they mouthed the word cancer, they lifted their heads and started clapping and smiling at us.
- People were in awe at the sign that read "2.1 million raised in 13 years, Thank You!"
- And on a personal note, I'm so not ready to go back to school because I had a delay reaction to all the kiddos yelling "Ms. Richardson!"
Moral of the Story: This week I sat with a friend and listened as she shared her battle with cancer. On that day, she was headed to her last radiation. She showed me the 'burns' all over her body from it. Yet, we were still in a stage of celebration of life. There are many days where cancer stinks, cancer is a sentence and not a word, but today we celebrated how far we have come in the battle against cancer as we continued to raise awareness. Here's to celebrating!
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