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Editorials - 06/15/00Relay For Life highlights personal cancer stories |
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In this editorial we are going to get personal. That's because each person walking the Western Carolina University track during Jackson County's Relay for Life last weekend had a personal story about cancer to tell.
Perhaps it was their own story of battling and surviving the disease. Like the young father who recalled the nausea and sickness of chemotherapy each time his feet rose up and down to hit the track. Glancing at his ever-supportive wife pushing their sleeping son in a stroller, he confided in a cancer survivor walking beside him, "True love is when your wife cleans up your puke." (We told you we were going to get personal.) Perhaps it's the story of the lady in her 40s who, since her mastectomy, now wears a life-like prosthesis. Underneath the colorful Relay for Life T-shirt only her husband and doctor know she has only one breast. For her, true love is when her husband caresses her, whispering loving words of how desirable she still is. (Well, maybe not that personal.) Perhaps the walker's story was to honor a friend who died of cancer. As the candles inside the white sand-filled luminaires were lit, those being honored joined the circle of light around the track. Tears streaming down the young man's face could not put out the flickering flame of his late grandmother's luminaire as he knelt down in a moment of respect and grief. This one special night, illuminated by the ring of magical beams bouncing off the valley floor against the tall dark mountains, he did not care who saw him cry. The flickering flames in each luminaire seemed to ignite each person's personal story. Names like Ezra Stovall, Bud Lewis, Kate Rhinehart, Bill Danner... Walkers brought their memories alive as they recounted stories like, "Remember when Ezra taught us how to do those arm stretches? She'd say just pretend you were picking cherries." Luminaires honored the survivors, too - those passing the torch of hope on to others still battling cancer. Each glowing white bag contained an individual story of courage in the face of cancer. Together the glowing force formed a great circle that bounced out to join the brightness of oncoming headlights from N.C. 107. We honor the stories of each walker and each cancer victim and know that there is no finish line until we find a cure for each person's cancer. That's why we take the relay so personally. Editorial policyThe opinions expressed on this page are those of the Sylva Herald Editorial Committee. Opinions are derived independently and owe no allegiance to any group, organization or political party. We welcome opposing views. |
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