A Night to Remember
The gently cooling night air in the coulee park was refreshing after a hot spring day. The cloudless sky was clear and stars twinkled above as hundreds of people gathered to remember family and friends who had died or survived cancer. What touched me as I entered the park was the peacefulness around me as I walked among groups of three or four, maybe a dozen or more, and even just those on their own, going along the candlelit roadway. There were no bright street lights or stage lights to block the night sky, yet some people stood on a dimly lit bandshell stage to make a few announcements at the start of this year's Relay for Life.
- People from many walks of life come together every year to raise awareness of cancer and, at the same time, raise money to help the cause. I hadn't planned to attend this event, even though I have contributed to such causes in the past. I went looking for some friends.
As I roamed through the crowd, looking for Bob and his daughter Erma, my heart was stirred by the first announcement: "All those who have lost a mother to cancer, light you candles now." My emotions were coming to the surface, but I somehow kept them in check. My mother's birthday; had she not been striken with cancer she would have turned 76 today. The hurt of her loss in our family 28 years ago has faded with time, though there are times when I surely miss her.
- I was fairly oblivious to other announcements as I thought for a few moments about my mother and peered through the darkened crowd. Just when I found my friends, the sound of bagpipes filled the night air as a pipe band entered front and centre playing Amazing Grace. My mother would have loved that, I thought as I stood with Bob and Erma.
We then wound our way through the crowd after I made a small donation for a paper bag and candle; a kind lady wrote on parchment: In memory of Jane Gold Forbes. Together, the three of us joined the throng going this way and that along the well-lit roadway. Each bag was more or less in alphabetical order, and we found the place where my bag should be placed and I lit the candle.
- Usually my blog is more uplifting, or about some fun or interesting adventure. This was just as interesting, this little journey down memory lane. Not only has my mother died of cancer, but my cousin's wife recently died of cancer. I have known young and old who have had cancer; some have passed from this life and others journey on.
I am grateful for those who have helped me learn from their sorrow and pain, and for those who have helped me in difficult times during my own life. Three years ago I hit the half-century mark and learned that I had skin cancer developing in my face. I am grateful for someone with special needs who one day asked me about a dark spot on my cheek. I am grateful for the doctor who skillfully removed the cancer, and who checks me every year.
- As I wandered along the park roadway, candlelit bags both sides, I gazed for a moment into the dark sky and contemplated my place in the big picture. I felt at peace alone among hundreds of others doing the very same thing. Indeed, a night to remember.
The gently cooling night air in the coulee park was refreshing after a hot spring day. The cloudless sky was clear and stars twinkled above as hundreds of people gathered to remember family and friends who had died or survived cancer. What touched me as I entered the park was the peacefulness around me as I walked among groups of three or four, maybe a dozen or more, and even just those on their own, going along the candlelit roadway. There were no bright street lights or stage lights to block the night sky, yet some people stood on a dimly lit bandshell stage to make a few announcements at the start of this year's Relay for Life.