It's Relay for Life day in my Hometown!

It's hard to believe that it is already that time of the year when Relay for Life gets underway across the country! Today this event is being held in my community and I look forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces from the past four years, and bidding adieu to those who will not be returning. They will forever be in our hearts.

I have been asked by the Relay Committee to read a poem at this year's Luminary Service. This, to me, is quite an honour and I have decided that the occasion warranted an original poem. So, I have taken pen to paper, writing a course of verses to reflect the them of this year's event: Celebrate - Remember - Fight Back.


CELEBRATE … REMEMBER … FIGHT BACK
Written by Brenda L. Despres - Grand Lake Relay for Life - June 2010


This evening we gather as comrades
Who are all here to CELEBRATE life.
The battle we’ve fought makes us stronger
And we smile despite heartache and strife.

We REMEMBER that some go before us
To be there to welcome us home;
Their courage lives on in the memories
That tonight, in this forum, will roam.

We strive for our health and our dignity
And against this disease we’ll prevail;
We’ll FIGHT BACK ‘til the battle is over
For the healthy, the stable, the frail.

So join hands with the person you’re next to
And share memories of those you hold dear;
We are walking tonight to conquer this beast
So our children can live without fear.

United we march into battle
We’ll continue to fight ‘til we win
Until cancer becomes just a memory
And we’ve defeated that demon within.