<a href="http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5228" title="rfl_logo" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/rfl_logo.gif" alt="" width="176" height="138" /></a>I've donated to<a href="http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/" target="_blank"><strong> Relay for Life</strong></a> for many years, but I have never walked in the actual Relay.

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This year, I showed up to the local high school with a new and "special friend".

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Upon arriving at the event, I happened to run into an old friend and former teaching colleague who is a cancer survivor.  Together, we watched a tribute to another friend and former teaching colleague of mine who lost her battle this past December.

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We then helped each other light our candles and embarked on the luminaria laps in silence.

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It was a humbling and moving experience.

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Words cannot begin to express the emotions stirred up throughout the evening, so I will leave you now with Hope.

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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rj3/2580652393/sizes/m/in/photostream/"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-5229" title="hope" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/hope-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>

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