I participated in my second Relay for Life this weekend. Last year I was part of a large corporate team; this year I organized a smaller team from our church in the name of someone we know who has been going through treatments for oral cancer.

The survivors' lap and the luminaria ceremony were especially moving. As I started doing laps, I was checking first for all the names our team had submitted for candles, but after that, I started seeing more and more names that I recognized (friends, neighbors, former co-workers) who had also had to deal with cancer in one form or another. I did my last several laps with a friend who was having the same "name-recognition" experience and we were sharing our stories.

Cathy