My name is Kip Wardell and I supported Relay-4-Life! I was introduced to the Relay 4 Life through my co-worker Derin who previously had fought cancer. She painstakingly worked her butt off to get people in our office informed about it and committed to attend and support. When I got off work and pulled into the lot at UVU the sun had just gone down and the mosquitoes had just woken up:) jk I saw people young, middle aged, and even some old farts walking the track supporting the cause of cancer research. I made a few laps with my other coworker Chris Hill and by that time the sky was dark and night had set in and the luminary ceremony had begun. A man (who I cant remember his name) shared his story of being diagnosed with cancer on his mission and being sent home and struggling with the devastating effects of chemo. He fought through it and is now cancer free, however the part that touched me was when he shared how he later was asked to sing at a funeral of a friend(a young kid) who also had cancer that he met in the hospital. He said how hard it was to face the reality that he lived yet his younger friend died. Questions like: Why me and not him? or What the hell makes me so special or was it just plain old luck? came across his thought process. He said what he learned is that God has a plan for everyone and each plan is unique. He also said that the only way to stay sane through it all is to laugh a lot. Good advice and a good experience. So I guess the whole "laughing" pep talk must have rubbed off cause Chris and I went shirtless and glowsticked a couple smiley faces on our rippling, perfectly sculpted upper bodies:) and ran around having fun and making asses out of ourselves. I headed out about midnight and was really happy I went to support relay for life and appreciate the invite to participate.
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