Hadlee's Heirlooms: Camp Day 8 ~ Relay For Life 2012

Camp Day 8 ~ Relay for Life 2012

Team Purple Tears

I've been putting this post off for a while now. Even now I'm sitting here with a knot in my throat and a trembling jaw. This post is going to dip into some personal deep set emotions.

The last 'real day' of summer camp is always the day Relay for Life falls on. Which I personally find amazing. We're all a part of The Purple Tears. It's our personal group for Relay. We all have special shirts, and often others create gifts for the team. Doing this as a camp and even community touches me deeply. You see.. relay for life is something that I hold dear in my heart. In my real life I have lost more than I'd like to count to cancer. I relay for so many family members and friends and those I do not even know. It's more to me than walking, staying up all night, the silly skype calls to keep our 'lids from drooping and the general fun... it's about finding a cure and for those who have lost the battle. This year it was particularly important to me. My Aunt was fighting a very short and aggressive battle with lung cancer. I lit a luminary early that morning on the track for her and said a small prayer as a I did my lap around the track. Giggling and talking with our massive skype call and generally have a blast - yet she was ever present in my mind as I walked. The mid-afternoon I got a phone call in real life and muted my microphone ... it was one of those calls that has you drop to your knees. It was THE call. It was my Mum .. she told me that my Aunt had lost her battle with lung cancer that morning. She had gone home to be with God. I don't think I said anything for a good five minutes. Just sat in silence as the tears rolled down my face. I quietly hung up the skype call and went to my Husband in real life. This is a relay I will never. ever. forget. This is why we relay. Part of me wonders if that when I lit her luminary if perhaps.. that light was her. She is no longer in pain and in the save haven of the Lord in Heaven. I will miss her beyond words.. but I know that she is happier and cancer free now.

This post seems unorganized and scattered to me... but I felt as if I needed to do this if not for me.. for her. For Relay for Life. This is why we do it.

I've added some various photo's from Relay. I wasn't able to stay or gather many.. but I would like to extend a huge heartfelt thank you to all of my friends and family who were there for me in support during this difficult time. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Your love means the world to me. To know that there are people across the country/world in our community with such open and loving hearts warms my soul.

Thank you.

Love,

Meg Hadlee