Before Relay this year, the Jacksonville Daily Progress ran another story about me and Relay. It made me tear up! You can read all about it here: Jacksonville Daily Progress Story
I was so happy to return to Relay for Life this year since we missed last year's due to my chemo treatments. This year it was an international theme, so our team site was based on Australia - since that's where my stem cell transplant came from :-)
A big storm came through East Texas, so the event was moved to the Jacksonville Middle School in the cafeteria. Even though we were cramped in there, it was still a great time. Our team was in charge of the luminarias this year, so it was a little more work for our team, but we had good team members to help out. We still walked our laps, like the survivor lap, the caregiver lap, and even the team lap. I even enjoyed a plate of nachos after the opening ceremonies!
I was super nervous this year because they asked me to speak during the Luminaria ceremony - which is a serious time of reflection to honor those effected by cancer. What am I supposed to say? How can I speak without making a joke? Yikes! But Mom and Jeremy were able to capture it on video, and Mom started crying half way through, so I guess I did ok.
See if you can listen to the video here: https://www.facebook.com/mary.graham.940/videos/10154588455096754/
The event was not overnight this year, so it was actually over before I knew it. Even though we had to pack up in the rain, at the end of the night I was so happy to be there this year and continue our 'tradition'. I'm so glad that my family turned out with me and cheered our team on as we walked the laps, sold raffle tickets and took part in the activities. I didn't get as many photos as I'd like, but we got some good ones.
I want to thank everyone that showed up to Relay with us and helped with the fight against cancer! As always, feel free to contact me if you want information about joining our team next year!
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