Saturday kicked off the LiveStrong Challenge festivities at Seattle Center. My friend Alley & I volunteered to help with registration from 1-5pm. It was a wonderful, emotional and fun experience.
We greeted riders and walkers, checking them in and facilitated getting their packets. I throughly enjoyed meeting everyone. The stories varied...teams in support of a loved one, walks in memory of, survivors fighting back, people working through active treatment and the scenarios continue from there. Everyone had a same spark of spirit - to not let CANCER have the last word in their lives. Some people raised thousands of dollars - completely humble and grateful. I helped several father/son teams that choose a different city to ride in every year. Everyone's story was incredible and brave.
Our own personal experience with LiveStrong and belief in their mission is the main motivation behind my need to fund raise for them. However, my favorite aspect of LiveStrong is that they are a haven for all touched by cancer - survivors, caregivers and families. The cause is universal and its a fight for humanity.
Being immersed in so many stories and sharing my own all afternoon left me overflowing with emotion and exhausted that evening. But as I have said before one of the gifts that comes with the cancer journey is witnessing the best in human spirit. It was a great reminder that while I may have felt alone through and beyond this journey - there are millions of people just as heroically walking similar paths.
Unity is strength.
Live Strong!
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