Luminaries on the bleachers. They were later rearranged to say "CURE".
It finally happened!!! UGA’s Relay for Life was Friday night, and let me tell you…it was hands down one of the best nights of my entire life, so I’m dedicating this post to it. I can relive my night and give all of you just a small taste of what Relay is all about. This year’s theme was “Changing the Channel on Cancer,” so most of the teams picked a television show and centered their outfits and tents around that show. The winning team was Saved by the Cure (clever!).
Started off the night with Ellie, my “honorary” caregiver. We ate a delicious barbeque dinner and got some pretty sweet S.W.A.G. (Stuff We All Get…The Office, anyone?), including some awesome tote bags, a lunchbox, a “Survivor” car decal, and a couple free Victoria’s Secret make up bags! We walked around the track a few times before everyone started arriving. My family got there just in the nick of time, minus my sister Erin, who was singing with the chorus in Disney World.
Opening Ceremonies got everyone pumped up, and we got to hear the story of this year’s Honorary Chair, Mary Evelyn King, a 7-year-old battling neuroblastoma. She and her parents are an inspiration. Having relapsed after four years of remission, Mary Evelyn told cancer that she beat it once, and she was going to beat it again!
Next came what I find to be the most emotional part of the night – the Survivor Lap and the Caregiver Lap. I almost choked up a few times as the other survivors and I walked the inaugural lap. As soon as I saw my family, I lost it and cried through the entire Caregiver Lap (it didn’t help that the song being played was “Fix You” by Coldplay – gets me every time). Having everyone at Relay cheering you on and being able to share such a special moment with the people who did everything in their power to keep you alive is a beautiful thing.
Dancing with my little sister.
But after that, things got crazy! The first band, The Less, began playing. People participated in Spirit Laps, which were introduced throughout the night. These laps have special themes such as a ballroom dancing lap, a leapfrog lap, and a “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” lap. The celebration of life was officially on!
I waited around, danced, and laughed with friends before making my way over to the stage to share my story. Being able to finally
recant my story gave me a sense of release and freedom that is indescribable. And to know that my friends and family were there celebrating my victory made it that much more intense.
A little while later, the luminaries were lit and we took one more symbolic lap. The purpose of the silent lap is to reflect and honor those that lost their battle with cancer.
From that point on, however, it was one huge party! There were performances from the Dance Dawgs, Tap Dawgs, and Red Hotz. I just about killed myself dancing to Velvet Runway, who performed exhilarating renditions of classic 80′s songs. Mike-E and Afroflow combined modern hip hop with traditional Ethiopian music, and they taught the crowd dances too!
Giving my speech.
Unfortunately, the rain arrived earlier than expected, and Relay ended early. But before everything wrapped up, we watched the Junkyard Dawgs perform some crazy breakdancing moves and were then pulled up on stage (along with a lot of other people) to dance with them! It was insane. I had a smile on my face the entire night. This was a great way to end it – doing something I would never normally do!
And the best part? Well, the whole purpose of Relay for Life is to raise money for cancer research through the American Cancer Society. This was the 11th UGA Relay, and in the 10 previous years, we were unable to break a threshold of $300,000. Want to know how much money was raised this year?
Could not have asked for a better success! Thank you to Relay for Life and my friends and family for making this a night I will always remember. And thanks to Ashten for the pictures (except for that last one)!
For those of you that couldn’t make it this year, you should definitely look into it for next year. Check out UGA Relay’s website (or find your local Relay) and see how you can get involved! Also be sure to see their Facebook page to look at tons of pictures from Friday night.
