Finding Hope on the Track

Sorry for my late post everyone—it’s been 24 hours and Relay for Life is officially complete. I was so proud to see our team on the track this year and I’m excited to say that our Chi Omega team raised over $6,000! Every Relay for Life is a special event, but this year had an especially meaningful luminaria ceremony. This ceremony takes place in the evening and it is a time to honor those that have survived cancer and remember those we have lost to the disease.

One girl shared her story. Her mother had been an oncologist and after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she lost her mom to the disease two and a half years ago. I don’t think there was a dry eye on the track as she told her story—can you imagine losing your mom before you go to college? Before you graduate, before you get married, or before you have your own kids? There is never a good time to lose anyone to cancer.

The track lit up as they asked the crowd to crack their glow stick if they were a survivor, if their parents were survivors, if their sibling were survivors, if their friends were survivors, and on and on until there was a sea of light. Every glow stick was cracked. We all know someone that has had cancer. Maybe you have been lucky enough to not know someone in your immediate family, or maybe you yourself have never been diagnosed. No matter what your past experience, may we be grateful for each day we are GIVEN. We do not deserve it, it does not belong to us—it is a gift that some do not fully receive.

I hope you’ll walk at your local Relay for Life to see what it is all about and I hope you’ll find a worthy cause to invest in. May we give thanks for the gift of today!

Keep shining,

The Sunny Girl, Lauren Cook