Lighting the Night

This past weekend, the tween and I joined hundreds of other local peeps doing the Light the Night walk around Greenlake to support, honor and remember those who have fought against blood cancers.

Participants are given a balloon in one of three colors: gold for those honoring someone who lost the battle, white for those who are surviving it, and red for those of us supporting the fight. There are little lights in the base of the balloons; as it gets dark it is quite impressive to see all the lights twinkling around the lake. I'm so bummed I can't find a good picture of us walking the lake, because it's a pretty amazing sight. Perhaps I can get my photographer friend to take a few next year (I'm talking to you, Craig).

From the Light the Night facebook page.

I do this walk, and raise money for this cause, because it has affected people I care about. This is my second year, and it is one of those events I will do forever. Because it's that important to me.

Let me introduce you to Ashley. This is her, two years ago, right before she was diagnosed with ALL.

She was 4. She was diagnosed very early, with no symptoms, because it was caught while she was being treated for something else.

Then the battle began.

And it sucked.

This is Ashley, mid treatment, while she was on her Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World.

And here she is today, with her family, at the Light the Night walk.

They will be done with treatment in December. But I don't imagine the fear will ever go away.

Watching my friend go through this is heartbreaking and empowering all at once. This whole family amazes me and I am so proud of how they have all survived this horrible, terrible disease. Check out the charity they started to help other families who are fighting this same disease. (And while we are supporting them, check out their little family business here).

As we walk around the lake, there are signs put up along the path. The first set of signs are the ones in memory of those who have passed away, the ones we are honoring. Heartbreaking though it is, one of Ashley's friends is in that group. A little girl who was going through the same battle, but she didn't make it.

You guys, she didn't make it. She was just a little kid, with a whole life she didn't get to live.

.

After a moment to remember her, we move on to the photos of those we are supporting, those who are surviving. And there, two pictures before Ashley, is a photo of another friends son.

You guys, cancer sucks. Any kind of cancer. It hurts so many people.

We need to find a cure.

Please do what you can to help support the fight, even if it's something as simple as holding a balloon. Because even that can be powerful.

Honoring the survivors in the pre-walk ceremony