Hope

Last night I signed to walk for Relay for Life from 9pm through 11pm. As I was there, I thought it was more of small festivity or fundraiser for the cause, and that it was more for fun and less for the seriousness and heartbreak cancer has thrust upon everyone's life in one way or another. My perception of Relay for Life drastically changes when the sun set and everyone was asked to sit in silence for a tribute to those who have lost the fight to cancer. On the opposing side of the bleachers, lighted bags spelled out hope as we all listened to a woman list off the names which were asked to be remembered in our community tonight. After the woman listed off an overwhelming amount of names who died or are still fighting cancer, she next spoke of how limited cancer is to spread in our lives. She spoke that cancer cannot destroy our love, it cannot destroy our hope, and it most certainly cannot disintegrate our family bonds and relationships. There were many more examples and reasoning of how limited caner is when against us, but those I listed about impacted me the most at the ceremony while watching the empty chair shown in front of the stadium; the chair illustrated where those who have fallen from cancer would have sat which made it all more real to me how many have fought it. It was hard to realize that I was thinking of this event in the wrong light. Before, I believed that no one cared anymore, unless it was directly affecting them, the problems of the world seemed too far away to reach a hand out. But this event made me realize that all these people here, all those who fought and are still fighting for a cure chose to reach out and help others. Now, I wish people reached out more than once a year to help save a life, but I come back to my thinking habits of some selfish individuals in the world. I promise (I made this after walking at Relay for Life and helping build houses at Habitat for Humanity earlier that day) that I will periodically help out people in need throughout the world no matter what kind of salary I make or how hectic my life is because there is always someone who needs a hand of any shape or size. I hope whoever reading this will later search for a non-profit organization online which really helps out people in need.