"Aloha - Goodbye cancer forever!!!What an awesome time we had at Relay for Life this weekend!!! I am so grateful to everyone who helped get the Relay team for Missoula Taekwondo Center together! I never could've done it alone! Special thanks to Amanda R. for getting everything started and answering about a million (give or take 10,000) questions, Kim S. for the tent, table and chairs, and also for making our buttons supporting our Taekwondo, family who are winning the fight against cancer! Thanks to Karen for bringing sunscreen and helping to decorate our base camp, Danni Kay for recruiting Megan, Allison, Josh and her mom to walk with us, to the Huntons and Tomi for their AWESOME participation, even though Tomi *just* had her wisdom teeth out! It was great to see so many people that I knew there! My chiropractor's wife was there as a survivor, my friend Renda, and Mr. Rosbarsky, senior.
Together Missoula Taekwondo Center raised $520, we had team members representing MTC on the track the entire time from the Relay start at 6 pm on Friday until 9 am the following morning - yes, nearly 16 hours on the track!!! Many folks walked around 18 miles - some more! It was an amazing, and slightly surreal thing to be walking as the sun went down (and other than a few breaks to doze off in my chair) to still be walking as it came up the next day. :)
Other than a few blisters here and there we all made it until the next morning. I ate too many of the free popsicles... oh boy! I was like a kid in a candy store - they gave out soooo many goodies!
The luminaria ceremony was very poignant. Almost everyone's life has been touched by cancer - whether you know a family member, friend, or co-worker, grandparent, spouse, yourself or your child who has battled cancer. It is very sobering to think of how intimately we all have experienced cancer. The luminarias lined the entire center of the track, and approximately 3/4 of the outside track. Walking in the twilight and seeing all the bags with the names of loved ones - these were people that were loved and cared about - the bags were beautiful - decorated elaborately, with pictures and beads, stickers, cutouts that glimmered in the candlelight...or very simply with a name or a letter to that person. To see the track lit with all those glowing bags in memoriam of someone who had or has cancer was beautiful, inspiring and also very very emotional.
One bag that got to me was from a little boy: "Grandpa, I wish you were still here so we could play trains. Mom said you always liked them. I hope you're happy in Heaven."
So touching...... Kim and I decided we liked the bags with pictures of the people smiling. Made me think of them being loved in happier times. Life IS precious!
I can't wait for next year - with the knowledge that I now have about how the event works, suggestions from my team to improve for next year, and the opportunity to spread the word to friends and family to raise even MORE funds for next year!!!!" From Captain Ruth
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