In recent months, I have dedicated myself to the American Cancer Society. I created a team and I set out for a goal of $1500.00. So thus, the fundraising began:
We spent a total of 72 hours outside our local Wal-Mart, solicitating donations and selling T Shirts and rocks.
We spent 5 hours participating in Bark for Life, where my baby, Mika, won a costume contest for her HotDog costume.
And we spent 6 hours at Villiage Green Park, selling anything we had to offer.
And finally, the day of the event came and it was time for Relay for Life!
We spent hours setting up a borrowed canopy, two folding tables, four chairs and a brand new tent. They say women should never go into construction. We get the job done; it just takes forever. Lol. What Nakia and I never considered was our height and how difficult it was for two short women to assemble a 7 foot canopy. After pinching our fingers and banging knees, we finally were able to expand the cover and lock all mechanisms. Then came the tent! We must have spent half an hour feeding the poles through the slits in the tent to only gain a floppy, scrunched up tent. But guess what, the big metal stakes included are not "extra parts." Who would have thought nailing the corners down would keep it all together?
Once everything was nearly decorated, the opening ceremony began and Jim Bondi took the stage. He told us his story of the journey after he was told those three dreadful words: "You have cancer." How I hate it when my throat tightens. This event is so full of tears, so full of laughter, so full of love. I love these people. I love this event.
The survivor lap began, and we followed Nakia's father, wearing his purple survivor's shirt, as he walked that first quarter mile.
The fun began and soon turned to retaliation. Nakia made the mistake of admitting her infatuation with a tall police officer running the Jail and Bail. Unknown to her but very known to me, hand cuffing someone only cost a dollar and cuffing a person to a cop is the same price.
And thus came retaliation! I was dragged away to be cuffed to Officer Logan Hancock, the very same cop I had cuffed Nakia to. Only, the cuffs were in use at that time so to keep me from escaping, I was thrown in jail... free of charge.
When the hand cuffs finally made their way back, Officer Hancock stepped into my "cell" and first cuffed his wrist and then mine. Two steps into our lap, I found that my theory of having the ability to manipulate my hand and escape handcuffs was very much, true.
Before he had noticed, I had slipped my cuff off. Instead of escaping, I chose to brag and allowed the cop to replace and tighten the shackle. I'm sure if I had bothered to try, I would still have been able to get it off.
Relay continued on until the night as we moved onto the Luminaria Ceremony and my friend, Justin, sung beautifully with his quartet. The tears came again. I was given a lighter and we lit the bags and started our walk in silence, interupted only by the tears and the words of, "I love you."
Morning came and we sold our last two T Shirts, making our goal and ending the fundraising. Not long after, the announcement was made. We had made it to bronze team. I took off, kicking my shoes off in the process and even dropping my new blackberry.
I accepted my award proudly.
And so we ended Relay for life, tired, sore and in tears again as we listened to the Fight Back Ceremony and I will never forget that beautiful survivor's words, words she repeated to herself during her battle: "This is temporary."
Awards were handed out and I was given an award as Team Captain. My team came in fourth place. I am so proud. We raised $1510.00 according to the final count.
I want to thank my team and I want to thank all those who helped us. I love you all and I look forward to raising even more next year. What do you think, Silver Team maybe? Lol
