What a relay we had!

We got to Maggie and Rich’s yesterday around 2pm and hung out a bit with them at their house before heading over and setting up for the relay an hour or so later. We watched for hours as more and more people appeared at the track, set up their tents and prepared for all the events that followed. I got a special relay t-shirt from Maggie that is purple, which signifies that I am a Survivor. And, as such, I signed in and signed up to read a public service announcement over the microphone later in the evening and help judge each team’s tent and their themes. I got really involved.

Some family members showed up by 6pm (John and Cynthia, Amy and her kids Jacob and Jordan, and Jennifer and Rick, too). We all sat through the moving opening ceremony and then I had to join the handful of “newly diagnosed - one year or less” survivors in the front leading section of the line of Survivors to walk the first lap. Oh man, was that ever hard. I didn’t know anybody out there, though I knew that we all had so much in common. The most difficult part of that lap was the first few steps. I just kept telling myself, “left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, breathe, breathe…” I made it 3/4 the way around the track before I started to lose it. Fortunately, Honey had come down from the bleachers to take pictures of us - and me particularly- as we approached the end to pick up our caretakers who would join us for one more lap. By the time I got to Honey I was bawling my eyes out. I just smashed my face into his big, snuggly shoulder and cried and cried about everything. A minute or so later I felt better and we walked hand-in-hand for that next lap, talking about how amazing and touching it was that family had showed up and how sincerely moved we were in how Maggie was honoring me in this event…

Most of the evening was spent by the tent on the side of the track, chatting with friends (Rick and Jennifer stayed with us well into the night) and often getting up to participate in various events throughout the relay. At 10pm there was a luminaria ceremony where people had put “In Memory of…” or “In Honor of…” cancer patients (present and past) on white paper bags with a candle inside, all lined up around the inside edge of the track. Everyone stopped to light their candles (which was an event all of its own, what with the gusty winds that had been blowing all day and evening!) and then held a few moments of silence to pay respect to those people on the bags. Maggie put my name on one and she and I sat in front of it and talked about what the word “hero” means to her (I ain’t telling about it here because that’s between me and my best friend Maggie!). The silence was suddenly broken as a bag in front of Maggie (not mine) caught on fire and started to smoke. She and I sprang up and ran several feet away from it, while people nearby shouted, “STOMP ON IT! DO IT!” Rick got up the guts to do it and started stomping away at the flaming bag, while others chased down the flaming bits that blew across the track towards the tents! Rick felt sooooooooo guilty for having stomped on someone’s memory bag but we all soothed his guilty conscience with jokes and laughter.

By 11pm I was beyond worn out. Maggie was chasing me around all evening telling me not to overdo it and hurt myself but I kept assuring her I was fine and when I got tired, I’d rest in the chairs, which I did until I just couldn’t do it anymore. We finally headed out and back to the hotel for some rest, while Maggie, Rich and her team kept the relay going with all the other teams until 6am!

Now here’s the really freaking cool part…

This morning, when Honey and I finally rolled out of bed around 10, we saw a text message on his phone from our dear friend Steve who lives about 45 minutes north of us in Denver. The message said, roughly: “Having a great time at the relay here in Gardner, KS this morning! Give me a call when you all get up and moving!” WHAT?!!?! We were stunned! I kept shaking my head and re-reading the message, thinking, “Stever’s here? In Gardner? With Maggie? And we had no idea he was coming!!!!” An hour or so later we met Maggie, Rick, Steve and his wife Tonia at a Waffle House near our hotel for breakfast and to catch up. Apparently, Steve and Tonia drove all night from Denver to Gardner and made it to the relay around 4am this morning!!!!!! They found Maggie’s team in time for the closing ceremonies and such then stayed with Tonia’s sister here in Olathe! We’re still a bit shocked by the whole surprise! I always knew Steve and Tonia were some of the kindest, sweetest and most caring friend of ours but I had no idea that they would do all that, and go to such lengths as to drive all night just for me! My heart is aching with love for all of these people, really.

We went to shop at Legends mall and toured through the Converse store. It was a big disappointment for us as they didn’t have any really cool and unique styles and very few of any in Honey’s size. I bought a simple pair of white ones with red and navy trim, a T-shirt, hat and laces and one used game for the DS from the game store nearby. Fear not, my readers, for our suitcases should not suffer from being overweight tomorrow. Just to be safe, we’re packing the smaller items near the tops of our bags so that if, when we check in, they are a bit overweight, we can remove the smaller bits and shove them into our carry on bags. We’ll see how well that plan works tomorrow morning.

We have some great pictures to share with you from this whole long vacation and relay but too tired to upload them right now. Give me a couple days after we get home to get them up and running for you. For now, I’m going to go put my feet up and wait patiently for our flight tomorrow morning to take me home to my own bed, home, puppies, kitties and everything else I was ready to get away from two weeks ago when I was begging for two weeks’ vacation!!! LOL Isn’t it ironic?