Did it again!

After all the preparation and excitement, it's now done. Yep, we did the Relay for Life, for the second year in a row. What a night. We were lucky overall because it didn't rain. But man was it humid!

After spending over 12 hours with cancer survivors, relatives and friends who were there with one goal in mind: to walk against cancer and to remember those we lost to it, it does do "something" to you... I don’t think anybody can take part of this event and remain untouched.

Unlike last year, this Relay was all about celebrating life, so the feel of the whole evening was very different. We were celebrating the survivors. It was still moving but in a very different way. I think all team members enjoyed their experience, some for the first time and others for the second, like us.

Our little caps caught the eye of many other participants. They would come up to our tent or to some of us, asking where we got them. It was funny all the reactions we’ve got. A lady even insisted on buying one. She loved Tweety and she really wanted one. Since one team member was a no show, his cap was given to this lady. She insisted on giving me $5 so we both agreed it would go against a donation. I must say, at first, when I put it on, it felt a little embarrassed, but I overcame that feeling quite rapidly. I would forget what the cap looked like, until I would meet someone who would look at me and smile. They were great for finding team members on the trail, very easy to spot.

Because I didn’t ask any member of the team if I could publish these photos, I’ve covered their beautiful smiling faces…

This was our team, VIGILANT, from 14 to 60 years old. The only member missing on this shot was L., our survivor. While we were setting up, he was attending a cocktail for the Survivors.

This is him, during the Survivors' Lap. The yellow shirts identified cancer survivors and the orange ones, care givers.


The location (Maisonneuve Park) was beautiful and being in town at night, in a park lit up by luminaries was interesting to say the least. That specific relay (Montreal-Centre) raised over $280 000, among which our team "VIGILANT" raised $6,605.00. If we include the luminaries sold (92 total for the team), it brings us to a grand total of $7,065.00. Not bad at all, if I do say so myself! Hubby & I did manage to raise $3,610.00 thanks to all our generous friends, relatives, clients and let's not forget Blends, of course! Special thanks to Marius, Tammie, Charlie, Brave Astronaut, Ananke, Lizgwiz, and Attila the Mom – you guys rock!!!

We’ve taken a few pictures, and here they are:

Our camp set up, at dawn. Can you notice the amount of food on the table?


The following two are showing what our path looked like with the luminaries and the Olympic Stadium Tower overlooking the park. With all the fog present, it made everything sort of spooky, yet very peaceful.



It was beautiful with all the luminaries and to think that each little flame represented a person battling cancer or someone who lost their fight against cancer made me shiver a few times...

Overall, it was a great night, and despite a few itches, we will most likely do it again next year; because after all, cancer never sleeps!

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Photos: Private