My Passion For Relay

Last night our Relay For Life team and countless others met up for a kick off meeting to talk about this year's event. The room was filled with beautiful faces, each with a reason to fight, each with a story to tell. I scanned the room until my eyes fell on my very own family. It felt surreal to be among those that have cancer stories. But I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else.

Relay is an event that I just got involved with last year at the urging of my sister in law, Jamina. She thought it would be therapeutic and all around just good for me. We created our team just a couple short weeks after I lost my mom to cancer. I was still very much in the grieving process and didn't know if I should commit to anything. Looking back, I know God had a hand in my decision to create a team, because I have been thrown into a beautiful circle of folks, that just like me, want to see this enemy we call "cancer" meet it's demise. We want no other families to feel what we've felt. We want to celebrate the survivors, we want to remember the fallen fighters, and we want to fight this disease to it's death.

The night of Relay last year was very enlightening. See, for those of you that don't know, Relay is an event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Passionate, enthusiastic people form teams, then throughout the year they have team fundraisers to raise money. There are periodic meetings to discuss progress and touch base with other team captains. Then comes the actual Relay for Life. We honor our survivors with tshirts and refreshments. Then, they walk a lap around the track. With teary eyes, we clap for those strong willed, soft hearted fighters. We cheer. We raise our hands and thank the Lord for them. It's a truly moving experience. Then, the caregivers make a lap. This is especially dear to my heart. Last year, my family and I walked hand in hand. We thought of our mom and fought our tears. It was such an honor to be her caregiver, so we walked that lap with pride. Then, with team members constantly walking the track, the teams head to their tents to sell food or goods to raise money for a cure. We stay there ALL NIGHT LONG. I know that thought can be kind of intimidating--but let me tell you, you DON'T get sleepy. You stay busy the whole time. It is so fun and action packed. Around midnight, the park goes quiet, and over the speaker fighters are honored and remembered as beautiful lanterns are released into the air. It's a tender, indescribable moment to look around at all the strangers, yet feel completely connected to them as they wipe tears and watch those lanterns float to Heaven like gifts for our lost loved ones. And when 6am rolls around, you leave with your heart 10 times as big as when you arrived. After falling in love with the event last year, I asked to join the committee so that I could participate in some of the behind the scenes stuff. So far I have met a lot of new people, and learned a little bit about the level of effort and dedication that goes in to planning this amazing event.

Though most of you know the story of my mom, I'd still like to talk about why I relay.....

Cancer came into my life, kind of like a meteor crashing down on earth. There are no words to describe the feeling in my heart when I listened to a doctor tell my mom that she had terminal cancer. In that moment I was scared to death. I was angry. And I was so, so sad. Through the process of the cancer, the chemo and the radiation taking it's toll on my mom's body, I was mortified. I watched her lose a frightening amount of weight. She lost her hair. She lost her eyebrows and beautiful eyelashes. She vomited countless times. She endured the stick of a needle too many times to count. She lost any amount of energy she had in her frail little frame. I wiped her tears as she cried because she wanted so badly to get up and be "gammy" to her beloved grandchildren and be her normal healthy self for us, her kids, but her body wouldn't let her. She was unable to eat--even when she was hungry because of the damage the radiation did to her throat. She had horrible stomach cramps. Her body ached to a point that no medicine could help. She was so sleepy and often dozed off during conversations or family gatherings. But there were also countless sleepless nights where her pain, or coughing kept her awake and miserable. Her skin was burned horribly. She watched as the cancer grew and knots began to pop up and disfigure her body. In the end, one of her eyes began to bugle a bit, and they told us it was from the cancer growing in her head. I remember standing in the yard at mom's house, with a Hospice nurse on the phone telling me that there was nothing we could do--but keep her comfortable. It is such a helpless feeling to watch someone you love beyond words slowly dying because there is an enemy conquering her body. We could do nothing but watch. She fought so hard. Like a champion she fought. And she never lost her smile or willingness to hug a neck or kiss a cheek or hold a hand. Though the cancer took so much from her, it did not take her life whenever it wanted.... Against all odds she fought until I had my baby, Mili--just like she promised. She held my hand with such strength that day. She wiped my tears of joy and held her newest grand baby. The Hospice nurses commented on her drive and will to live. They too were surprised by her strength. Then, when mom knew all was well, she waited patiently for God to call her home. My brothers and I held her as she made the transition from this world to her new home in heaven. It was the darkest day of my life. But you must understand something about my Mama. Cancer didn't take her. I once gave cancer that credit. But it wasn't strong enough to take my Mama. Her spirit was never broken by that evil disease. And though her body was too tired to go on, her spirit left here stronger than ever. In Heaven, I know she is patiently waiting for me to join her. She is proud of me, and my efforts to finish her fight against this horrible disease, cancer.

See, after I consider what she went through......And what other fighters go through--how can one night of work be too much for me?


I invite each of you to donate or create your own team, or to join our team: Team Shipley's. We would love to have you! You'll have a blast and be helping others in the process. I just warn you, it's such a rewarding experience--you ARE GOING to get hooked!