Relais pour la vie/Relay for Life

I went out tonight for a good long walk with Bella, and as we strolled through the town, I remembered that I wanted to write about last weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend, much like this one, and I stayed in Valleyfield for the Relay for Life walk that benefits the Canadian Cancer Association. Now, I rarely remain at my little apartment on weekends, and if I do, it’s because I am working, so this past Saturday, I took advantage of the sunshine and washed all the windows and curtains, and basically did a big spring cleaning (that after a little 8km run). I was on a roll; full of energy, and the apartment was squeaky clean. Then, at 5pm, 2 of my co-workers stopped by to pick me up, and off we went to Park Sauvé in Valleyfield for the Relay for life. I did not know what to expect, but I didn’t expect that I’d be walking all night. I thought it was a relay, and that we’d be taking turns walking, but it didn’t really work out that way. Sure, I didn’t have to walk all night, but walking passed the time and I knew that if I fell asleep on one of those camping chairs, I would not be able to get up again, so I just kept on walking, around and around and around the park.

When the sun went down, we lit our lanterns – you could buy a lantern in the memory or in the honour of someone who had cancer, and then through the night, our walk was illuminated by all those lanterns. So many of them! It was a time for retrospection, a time to think about all the ones that I love, those that have passed away, and those that are still fighting. Our team did well, we raised almost $4000. The team was organised by the unionised employees, and it was fun to hang out with them – we really do not work together in the same building, some had never seen me and I’ve been there for 2 and half years. But I sign the cheques, so they were all nice to me!

 Come morning, we had a Zumba dancing session. I thought they were nuts, making us dance so energetically after walking for so many hours, but it was really fun (for the 1st 2 dances, then I gave up). The organisers were offering a breakfast after the Zumba dancing, but you know what, I was more nauseated than hungry – nauseated from sheer lack of sleep and fatigue, and so I headed home and simply crashed. Nothing would have woken me up on Sunday morning – I slept until 2:30.

 I thought I’d never want to walk again, but when I woke up, I leashed Bella, and off we went on a nice long walk.