Relay For Life

On May 17-18 Alex and I particiated in the Relay for Life. This is a 20 hour-long relay held to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Alex was the only kid on our team who stayed the entire relay (overnight). It was held at Lynnwood High School on the track.

My good friend Amy was a committee volunteer and our team captain. Her entire family -- Mom, Dad and two sisters (one flew in from AZ for the event) also participated. I love seeing her family together -- it is obvious how much they truly love each other. It's amazing how much work goes into putting an event like this on.

As part of the fundraising, our team was selling glow sticks. Alex took it upon himself to be our official salesman, and was absolutely unstoppable in peddling the little glowing sticks and bracelets. At first he was a little timid approaching other participants, but once he came up with his sales pitch, he made round after round on the track. When people would say no, he'd politely say "Thank you" and move on. If someone said catch me a little later, he memorized who and where they were and always followed through. There were a couple of times when he'd come back to our tent discouraged because he didn't sell many that round. I'd convince him to take a break, and go back out when it was getting dark when more people may be interested in glow sticks. He'd reluctantly say ok, but the minute I turned my back, I'd see him walk off holding a donation jar with a large batch of glow sticks dangling from his arm. He did manage to sell all but a few of the glow bracelets.

I hope that by having him participate in events like this, he will have a new appreciation for how lucky we are. It was touching and inspiring to see and meet cancer survivors, and what we were doing there didn't seem to quite be enough in comparison.

Thanks to all of you who donated; you made a difference!