Last Friday was a day of firsts for me. I pulled my first all-nighter ever (I don’t count the 20 minute power nap I took at 5:30 AM) and I participated in my first ever Relay for Life. As I’ve said before, I am not good with people/participation so I had never joined a team and done Relay for Life before.  This year however, Jess and I participated with Red Zone and sacrificed a night of sleep – cancer doesn’t sleep, so for one night, neither did we. 

As with most people, I have been affected by cancer in more ways than one. I thankfully have never had it, but numerous people in my family and my school have fought back against it. Last Friday, I mainly relayed for my grandpa. My grandpa died August 30, 2008 after a battle with brain cancer. He has been gone for some time now, but I was grateful to have the opportunity to walk for him and remember. I could be super sad that he’s gone, but I’m happy that his suffering ended and that I got to spend as much time with him as I did when he was alive. He was a great guy, super deaf but always really funny about answering the phone and watching TV. Seriously, he would watch Sportsnet reruns ALL DAY without the volume on. Drove us crazy as kids, let me tell you. But it is still sad that he died, and relay gave me a chance to really remember him and think about him without feeling judged for crying in public – which happens more than I like admit. I’m super emotional about everything okay, don’t judge.

During the night, there was a Luminary walk – super sad songs were played, and tears were shed. It started out okay, but eventually pretty much everyone broke down. I am so happy that Red Zone was there, they were so supportive of everyone in the group. Everyone was hugging, holding hands, and crying together. It was a seriously beautiful moment, and I’m proud to say that I was part of it. Lots of love to Red Zone, y’all rock <3. You guys also made Jess and I feel really welcome, and for my first all-nighter, I couldn’t imagine a better group of people to share it with.

As a school, we managed to raise over $100 000, surpassing our goal and impressing everyone. Props to the organizers who made it such a fun, moving event, and shout out to the students who participated – you are all champs, well done team. Next year I shall prepare for Relay for Life by sleeping for a full week, because it has been discovered that Morgan doesn’t run well on little sleep. But I’m prepared now.

Who do you relay for?