Mini-essay #6 - Definition

JOINED TOGETHER FOR THE CAUSE
One in five women diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma die. This devastating statistic represents only one type of cancer affecting millions of people. Families of cancer patients, patients, survivors, and friends of these groups feel the effects of cancer every day. No cancer patient undergoes the difficult process of treatment alone as doctors, nurses, oncologists, and others support them in any way possible. Miracles happen and patients survive, however not all make it through as cancer is a life-taking hellish disease. My mom was one of the more fortunate ones affected by cancer. Now this may seem a paradox, but her life was spared and that was the best gifts that God has ever given to me. In efforts to spare an increasing number of lives from cancer, the American Cancer Society has hosted The Relay for Life for decades around the world. I am a member of this group because I am grateful she survived and to raise money to end the times of cancer affecting more millions world-wide.
My involvement with the Relay for Life all began when I was about 10 years old and in girl scouts. From the start, I was always involved in many things, including academic groups and extracurricular activities. For the relay, we worked together to received donations for the cause, set up and decorated a campsite around the track, and took turns walking throughout the entire night until morning. This enduring of the group is a symbol of those who have survived or have lost the fight to cancer. My first experience and involvement in the Relay for Life as a young girl caused me to include others in the future fight against cancer. Year after year I would return and persist with the others around me aiding in the funding for research and the cessation of cancer-related deaths.
This involvement started from a similar group interest and goal, but during 2003, my endurance during the relay came from motives that were personal for the first time. My mom was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma during late winter after she went in to the doctor's after a slip on some ice. Slips are something that people try to avoid during this time; however the slip became a miraculous event. If it weren't for it, she may have never gone in to the doctor, and she may not have been alive today. I walked that summer for that miracle and for the hope that God would bless our family with the sparing of her life. She walked too as the beginning lap ensued, she wore the colored shirt signifying she has or has had cancer, and endured the night along with the rest of the team and other sub-groups at the relay. My mom's determination and strong-will not only allowed her to get through the night of relay events, but also the disease. She has been over 5 years cancer-free and the oncologists declare that to be re-diagnosed would be extremely rare after the fifth year without cancer. For this miracle I walk for the relay, I am who I am today, and I endure the night in hope that cancer will no longer affect anyone.
The members involved in the Relay for Life share this common goal when rallying together to prevent cancer in some way because they have been affected by it. Either they have survived or are battling cancer, or had a friend or family member survive or die from cancer. Being involved in this group allows me to share this feeling of sadness from being affected, happiness for my mom's life, and the hope for future discoveries in the medical field. The revenue made from rallying and donations from several communities at one relay location could aid in the cure. The cure is why we rally.