My Relay

Last weekend was my Relay for Life walk that I posted about here. It was a HUGE success! Our event raised over $150,000 for the American Cancer Society and our team personally raised $2,820.00!!! It was such an amazing event to be a part of. Words can't describe what you feel being surrounded by people who have fought or are still fighting their battle with cancer and loved ones honoring those they have lost.

Our team: Melodie, Darlene, Angela, Christina, Suzi, Sarah, Shannon, & Chris

My very good friend, Christina, was one of the survivors we honored Saturday night. She won her battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma 3 years ago and has been cancer free ever since. It was an honor and blessing to participate in the walk with her. It was something Suzi and I had wanted to do for a long time and I'm so happy we were finally able to make good on our promise to Christina. I'm hoping it becomes an annual event between all of us.

The luminary for Christina was right beside the luminary candle for my Mother-in-Law who lost her battle to cancer 14 years ago. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Annikki but I feel I have gotten to know her through the stories her friends and family have shared with me over the years. She was an amazing woman, mother, and wife and I look forward to continuing our relationship by honoring the woman that she was.

Opening Ceremony Survivor walk

Our camp site

I didn't really know what to expect about this event. I was nervous about staying up all night and if I could really do it. I knew that there would be the adrenaline rush in the beginning but was worried about the hours between 2 and 6 a.m. Fortunately, the event planners had plenty of activities throughout the night to keep us awake. When we weren't walking on the track we were sitting around our "camp" talking, playing games, and EATING! There were tons of kids at the event which made it very lively and also helped us stay awake. They were in the field between tents playing all kinds of games. Christina introduced me to a game called AC/DC which I swear is a made up Liberti game b/c she kept adding rules as we played. Around 2 a.m. there was a lip syncing contest for all of the kids. This was VERY entertaining. Most of the groups had choreographed dances and costumes. One of my favorite performances was a group of 4 boys lip syncing to Journey "Don't Stop Believing". Here is a clip from their performance, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Unfortunately, our event was cut short and ended at 5 a.m. due to inclement weather. Christina and I had just gotten in the tent to take a cat nap when it was announced that lightening was showing up on the radar. Not a good thing when you have 800 people in an open field with metal tents. Everyone had to scramble to get their camps packed up because soon after the announcement was made it started to rain. Markus swears it was his mom who showered us at our wedding and now he is convinced it was her Saturday night saying hello and making sure we knew she was present. It's good to know someone up there is showering us with love!

Thanks to all who contributed to our fundraising and made this event possible. I'm already looking forward to our next Relay. Hopefully next time we will be able to make it to the end!