Relay for Life 2009 - Yankton, SD

Josh and I traveled to my hometown of Yankton, SD this weekend, to take part in the annual Relay for Life. As I'm sure most of you reading this already know, I lost my mom to cancer in May of 1995. This is not where my family's fight against cancer ends. My dad is a prostrate cancer survivor. My Aunt Lois is a double survivor of Hodgkin's Disease. My Aunt Ann is a breast cancer survivor. My mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor, and my mom's sister was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and is currently undergoing treatment. My mom's best friend Carolyn died two years ago of brain cancer. And sadly, last September, my son Josh's 4 year old classmate, Sarah Macy, died of complications from Wilm's Tumor, a cancer of the kidney.

Nobody is unaffected by cancer. Everyone has lost someone to this awful disease, whether it be family or friend. I am including pictures of the luminaries that Josh and I made (most of them). We did six. Three for survivors (Papa Ordell, Aunt Linda, and Grandma Del Rae), and three in memory of our loved ones who lost the battle to this beast, but definitely earned their angel wings (albeit at a much to early age!)