Celebrate, Remember, Fight back….a night for Hope

All, this is not a usual post, but is undoubtedly the most important one I will do this year.  Thank you in advance for taking the time to read it.

If you have been walking this journey with me for a while, you’ll know our family recently dealt with the very essence of ugliness – cancer (you can read about it here and here).  

On February 2, 2012, my dear Father in Law and beloved Gramps left us after having fought a courageous battle for many years.  It’s hard to believe nearly four months have passed since we said good-bye; the emotions that fill my heart while writing this post make it seem as though it were only yesterday.


As you may know, I belong to a woman’s soccer league and every year a group of us gather for a very important event – The Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life.

It’s an all-night fund raising event to celebrate the lives of those who are living with cancer, remember loved ones lost to cancer, and fight back against the disease.

When I first began attending the relay a few years ago, I was one of the fortunate few who could claim to not have been directly affected by cancer.  But what initially began as a means of supporting my fellow teammates has now become a mission – a mission to pick a fight with cancer and do whatever little I can to help raise awareness and funds towards finding a cure.

These are some of the luminaries that represent a life lost to cancer. They are lit at midnight and a minute of silence is observed.  It is truly a life changing experience.

This Friday, beginning at 7:00pm, I – along with family and teammates – will walk through the night along with thousands of others willing to sacrifice one night of their lives for HOPE. 

I don’t know if those who pass look down upon us, but I do know they never leave our hearts and thoughts.  This Friday, I will have him in my heart.  This Friday, I will walk for him and for all of those who have been touched by this horrible disease.


And now here’s the tough part (at least for me).  Those who know me personally know I don’t have an aggressive bone in my body.  The thought of asking for support is completely outside my comfort zone, yet here I am – on the cusp of what will be the most important event of my life this year – doing just that.  

We all live within a budget and I appreciate the economy has been difficult for many of us.  But if after reading this you feel in your heart the need to donate, please do.

You can simply click here, or on the button that will remain on the sidebar of my blog for the next week.  The link will take you to my personal participant centre, where you can choose to give a pledge.  All you will have to do then is search my name (Lucy Akins) and the site will prompt you for other details.

I read this quote once and it stuck in my head “If you think you are too small to make a difference, than you’ve obviously never been in bed with a mosquito”. – Michelle Walkeris

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this very important post, and a special thanks to those of you able to make a pledge.

much love,
Lucy (and Family)