By Deborah Milligan

Cancer doesn’t care if you are young or old. Cancer affects everyone in different ways.

The reason I started doing Relay was to keep an eye on the Relay store. I now run the Relay store. Every year I see new faces at Relay. I also see the ones who have fought a good fight and are still here to tell their story. Last year was my first time as a team member. What fun it was to be involved for a longer period of time than just for two days. Our Relay gets as many people out as does the Mountain Valley Football team to watch them shine.

If you are feeling down and out this is the place to be on May 29-30, 2009. There are things to do around the clock. We’ll have a Kids corner – the pj walk was a success last year. Abbie’s Avengers took turns walking in someone’s pj’s, no name who this special person is, but he’s a giving guy. Now, he starts his first round with colon cancer on March 13. It’s almost been two years since his granddaughter was diagnosed with ALL, a type of leukemia, at six years old. She takes her pills better than any adult out there. If she gets a new pill, questions arise, what is it for? How long am I going to take it?

She has bad days, but greater days are ahead. Some day she is going to win this fight against cancer. She will be free of all of her medicine and her visits to the hospital will end. She will once again do some things that right now the answer is no. She is not allowed to swim at public pools, lakes, or ponds. How do you cope in the summertime when everyone else gets to swim and your mom says no? Or if the sun comes out and you need to be covered from head to toe because a sunburn is very dangerous to you.

To all the people who send Camp Sunshine money – this young person really likes it when they get picked to be at Camp Sunshine, because it’s a vacation away from home.

I’m a huge support for Relay. Last year, I got my husband, youngest son and daughter involved in Relay. They asked me, “Where were you during Relay?” I replied, “At the relay store.” If you need me, look under the Relay store tent. This year is going to be a great year at Relay For Life Rumford.

Get out, join a team, or just come to Relay to show your support. Once the luminaries are lit, you can hear a pin drop other than the loudspeaker reading off the names of “in Memory” or “in honor of” loved ones. You may not even know it, but your neighbor’s name could be read off to your surprise. We are here for you through community support.