Walking for Grandpa Angel

Wow! I am overwhelmed with emotion as I write this, thinking about yesterday. Mailee and I walked in the Relay for Life for the American Cancer Soceity. Thank you to all of you who donated to the ACS and who prayed for all those involved in this event.



I didn't know what to expect as I signed up for the Relay. I have never been to one before, but I wanted to be a part of anything that involves Cancer research and it's elimination. I thought it would be a few people from our church and elsewhere walking for their alotted time and then "passing the baton" and going home. What I found was a sort of Hope Rally (my term) and a gathering of hundreds if not thousands of people with one common theme- HOPE! I bet they all feel like me today. All I could say as I talked to my mom after the event was that it felt so good to be doing SOMETHING. Cancer touches all of us and it is bitter and scary. We all have felt helpless against it, whether we are the patient, loved one, or friend. I know that the "C word" scares me worse than anything. Yet, yesterday, I did SOMETHING! My daughter and I, along with all those other people, walked and talked together, laughing and loving together in a united front of HOPE. Coincidentally, I had made a shirt for Mailee to wear during the event with the word "HOPE" across her chest. She is the light in my life and a symbol of Hope to me. I felt that as I walked with the hundreds of others, we were Hope, stronger than the enemy!



My sister and my nephew were there also and we plan to make this an annual event for our family. It was an experience I will never forget and Mailee will grow to appreciate year after year!



A couple of other events were part of the Relay gathering. I signed up to be a part of a study of 500,000 people nationwide to research Cancer prevention. As they were drawing my blood, I was praying that each drop might help bring us closer to a cure.



Also, my mom bought a luminaria in memory of my dad, Bruce Lent-Koop. The luminarias lined the track route (actually a few times) and were lit at dusk in a special ceremony. Our luminaria has the words to the song I used as my "Father/Daughter Dance" for my wedding on one side and Mailee's footprints on the other with our reason for walking... Walking for Grandpa Angel!

"We all live, and We all Die,

But the End is not Good-Bye.

An Eternal Burning Flame,

HOPE lives on and Love Remains"

Bruce Lent-Koop

1947-1987