Walking in the Light

Last Friday evening, my husband Larry and I attended the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Baraboo.  For the first time in many years, the event had returned to the high school track.  My late mom and I used to attend the event every year and I volunteered on the planning committee at one time.  However, after mom's last cancer diagnosis and then her passing, I just couldn't bring myself to think about cancer.  Both she and I had experienced cancer three times, but this last time for Mom was an end-journey and I couldn't accept that cancer did that to her.  Yet, with the loss of Larry's mom and mine to cancer, we headed to the event last Friday night and bought the luminaries to bear their names.  Once it got dark, the meaningful luminary ceremony began with the names of every person remembered with a luminary being said over a PA system.  After my dad died and she moved into town, Mom lived in a lovely apartment for many years that was located across from the high school track.  Mom used to talk about awakening in the night during the Relay, watching from her bedroom window the individuals walking the track to help raise money for a cancer cure.  As we heard Mom's name listed during the luminary ceremony, I looked up at what used to be her apartment and I could almost see her standing in the window, smiling approvingly at what she saw.