Relay For Life is in 6 days.

As many of you know, my internship in Community Relations for the American Cancer Society is almost up. While ACS is decidedly not my ideal employer (for reasons which do not belong in this post), there are certain areas of my involvement that I really enjoy.

For example, the Luminaria Ceremony is really beautiful, and I am delighted to be any small part of it this year. At sunset at every Relay For Life, candles are lit inside decorated paper bags to remember lost loved ones and celebrate those who have survived cancer. The ceremony itself is a beautiful thing, as hundreds, sometimes thousands of candles are lit and provide a soft glow of hope to everyone attending. The Luminaria themselves are wondrous to see. Many people put hours of work into theirs, wanting to create something wonderful to bear the name of their loved one. Others simply write a name, but each name is significant. Each candle is a memory or a life. We use them to light the track, to show us the way as we walk through the night.

My kid brother made one for our mom, a survivor of thyroid cancer. It may not look like much, but it's pretty impressive for a 14-year-old gamer kid:


I made a simple but fun one for a fellow committee member, Becky. (Fraught with subtext. And yes, it's pink. La vie en rose, mes amis.)


But the one I'm really excited to see lit up is the one I made for my mom. It's got a moon and everything! This is shameless show and tell, perhaps, but lookit!


If anyone who reads this would like to make a Luminaria for someone to be lit at the Relay For Life of Burnsville on August 7th, please let me know. The suggested donation is $10 and benefits such ACS programs as the Hope Lodge, a free place for cancer patients to stay during treatment, and HopeLine, a free phone service to answer any and all cancer treatment and insurance questions.