The Survivors' Victory Lap

For the last three years our local community has held a Relay For Life event which is a celebration of survival. It's a tribute to the lives of loved ones, and a night of fun, entertainment, friendship, and fundraising to beat cancer. The evening begins with the Survivors' Victory Lap, celebrating success in the battle against cancer. At dusk, a touching luminary lighting ceremony takes place where hundreds of candles are lit in honour or in memory of loved ones. The words HOPE and LIFE are spelled out on the bleachers. We give HOPE to those that see us walk and show them that there is LIFE after cancer.

Last Friday evening I walked the victory lap along with some friends.......

To be cheered on by family and friends swells me up with emotion. I almost compare it to the excitement that was there when the 2005 cyclists arrived in Halifax. For each of us as survivors this is almost just as much of an accomplishment. The course each one of us has travelled has not been the same or as difficult. Some are still undergoing treatment as they walk and others have just finished treatment. There are not too many out there who have not been affected by cancer in one way or another in their extended families.

This summer as the SeatoSea tours North America, we know where the starting point will be and we know where each day will finish but we will not always know the course set out for each day. It has been mapped out for us but we actually will not know exactly what we will encounter along the way until we get there. So it is in life - we know where we started in the family that God has placed us in. The future is in God's hands and the course we follow is different for each one of us. There will/could be obstacles that we have to overcome, hills to climb and valleys to go through but lets encourage one another in our journeys, cheer each other on and help those who are having a hard time. We will experience this on the ride this summer. How and when we arrive is not as important but that we do arrive is. Together we can reach the goal set out before us.