Why I Walk

On Friday, April 20th, I will join WSU students and Pullman community members on the track at the high school and I will walk.  I will keep my feet moving through the night and into the early hours of Saturday morning, losing track of the number of laps and focusing my mind on why I am there.  On why hundreds of other people are there walking around that track with me. 

We are there to remember.  We are there to celebrate.  But most importantly, we are there to fight back against cancer. 

This will be my third year participating in Relay and for me the experience has always been a positive, uplifting one.  And those can often be difficult attributes to find when you are dealing with the subject of cancer.  But Relay for Life is a true testament to just how many people in the world are committed to fighting this disease and the event itself is often extremely powerful.

Everyone who participates has their own reasons for walking.  Everyone has a story about why this event, why this fight, is so important to them.  Some are walking as survivors of cancer, others as caregivers.  Some are walking because they know someone currently battling cancer.  Others, like me, are walking because they have lost loved ones to cancer.

I was only a 5th grader when my Papa passed away after being diagnosed with cancer, and it was only a mere two years later that my Nana also died from the disease.  At the time, especially with Papa, I didn't understand a lot of things.  I didn't know what it meant to "have cancer," I didn't know about things like chemotherapy and radiation, and even when Papa got really sick, I never really thought there would come a time when he wouldn't be there anymore.  My family and I were fortunate to get another two years with Nana, but when I found out that she was sick, too, the reality of cancer truly hit home.

It steals lives.  It cuts time short.  It does not discriminate.

My first time doing Relay for Life, I walked around the track during the Luminaria Ceremony and I remembered Nana and Papa.  I thought back on my memories of them before they got sick; to family vacations at the beach, Thanksgiving holidays in Prosser, playing cards at the kitchen table, taking walks to Papa's classroom and playing pretend school.  I know that I am fortunate to at least have good memories to look back on, but I can't help the sadness and bitterness I also feel knowing that there will be no new memories to make.  Nana and Papa have been gone for 15 and 17 years, and while time has a way of healing the pain it does not take it away entirely.

This year, once again, I will walk and I will remember.  It might seem like a small gesture against a disease as big as cancer, but sometimes the smallest gesture is better than none at all.  And while walking in this event isn't going to bring my grandparents back, the money that is collected through fundraising might save the life of someone who has the disease right now, or help to advance research and medications that will save thousands of lives somewhere down the road.

Cancer has taken too much and too many away from all of us.  With more events like Relay for Life, hopefully someday soon we can take cancer away for good.


If you would like to make a donation to Relay for Life and help in the fight against cancer, please visit my personal fundraising page and make a donation online today!