Gallows Humor....my family has a knack for it, even when we try to do something for a worthy cause...
I don't know what made me think of this story...probably something triggered in my mind as I checked out at the grocery store tonight, and was asked to donate $1 to support some sort cause relating to cancer, or leukemia, or diabetes. I usually donate the dollar--I mean, how can I not when in between my organic yogurt, and the rice pasta, and fruit, were things like Oreos...and Dubliner cheese...and Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream ice cream..who am I to say "sorry can't spare a dollar" when I just blew off 20 bucks of crapola?! So I donated as I always do.
Anyway, it made me think about the Relay for Life...Now, for those who may not be familiar with this fundraiser to help raise money for cancer research, it's an event usually at a school track, you form a team, everyone asks for donations, and then all teams show up with tents and provisions, and starting at about 10am on a Saturday you start walking the track in shifts...and you don't stop walking for 24 hrs. Point being "at least one person from your team must be on the track at any given time the 24 hrs."
So in the summer of 1999, a bit over a year after we lost Mom to cancer, my sister-in-law (eldest brother's wife) joined the committee for planning our local Relay for Life. And so me, my 4 siblings, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and even 2 former college hosuemates of mine, plus the husband of one of them formed a team of 10 walkers.
Now, picture it...a high school track, and in the middle of it, where the grass is, is "tent city". People started showing up with their camping tents--setting them up for the naps overnight. Also they all staked out their area adding some chairs to sit in while they were waiting their turn during the day, some had the sun canopy things to gather/sit under where they placed their chairs and hung out the whole day...also, people showed up with coolers of food, drink (no alcohol allowed), and little BBQ's, sterno set ups/etc. The organizers also had some food/drinks set up, along with music, and of course the dreaded porta potty's (by "Royal Flush"--gotta love that, I'll never forget that name...love that!!)
Then WE show up...my sister's husband was key. He shows up with his pickup which had...
- gas grill
- HUGE tarp/tent--I mean so huge all 10 of us fit easily underneath it--and have room to spare for the huge cooler of food/drink, we had an extra table where we set up the food/etc ..hell, I was expecting elephants to come by to help us raise the darn thing.
- provisions for lunch/dinner Saturday--plus eggs/bacon/bagels for the following morning
We had maybe 5 tents total for the overnight that we scattered about around our "headquarters" and everyone brought their own lounge chair, and beverages. We had a huge cooler where we threw all the waters, soda--and "contraband" (ok, we may have had snuck in a beer or 2..)
The event started at 10am on a Saturday...the rain started about noon.
And it continued to be a chilly rainy/misty/breezy 24 hours. During which we had a huge kettle of soup, burgers, and Lord knows what else. It was a cold miserable day, but we were in good spirits and making the best of it. As for me, I was away from my cozy home, but I was ok, because I had my trusty folding chair-in-a-bag which also had a cup holder, and fold-out foot-rest. I may have had to go w/out TV for a night but darnit I was going to be comfortable.
Yea, if you were a team anywhere near us, you hated us. You hated us more when you smelled bacon and eggs at 7am...yep, that was us too.
Anyone who donated was able to buy a votive candle and a brown bag of sand to place the votive, and write the name of either a cancer survivor--or someone who lost their battle to cancer--on the bag. There were tons of these votives lit all around the oval track at one point--and they had a list of every name, and read them out. My brother was asked to get up to read a set of names, including our mom's...It was really special. And sad that the rain came again and extinguished most of the candles, and soaked the brown lunch bags. But my point here being, believe me, the cause and the purpose of the event was not lost on us. We lived every day with a missing piece of our family, our hearts--she was the engine and heart of our operation.
Yet somehow, as with anything, we'll manage to turn any normal event into a "production" (as my sister and I like to call it).
It got windier and rainier, people began just hunkering down in their tents rather than stay outside--and there we were, chowing down on food, comfortably huddled under this huge tarp. Two sides of which had pull down plastic sides to boot...
When it got very late, we'd take turns going to sleep in the smaller tents with our sleeping bags...which was chilly I must say--all in all, for all the comforts of home that we had, it was still one long night. But we took it seriously--we were there to walk, and walk we did.
We thew on rain gear, and made sure someone from our team was on that darn track all 24 hrs--and out of the 100 or so teams that were there--when 3am rolled around, there were maybe 30 or so people on the track, including someone from our team. So not everyone played by the rules--but with the weather we had, I'm sure a lot of teams went home early and never stayed the night. But as we had better shelter, we also felt the need to show we also were going to take it seriously enough to have someone walking....
Now, about half way through the night, I think it was my brother who turned to my brother in law and asks: "Where did you get this tarp anyway??"
And he replied with pure honesty, not at all meaning to be ironic, or dark, or even funny, "oh, the landscaping company I work for digs graves--this is from the cemetary...they let me borrow it." Then it hit us as we looked up at this thing, with the dark green color, the scalloped edges...the curved top...the roll down sides for 'weather'. We were at a cancer fundraiser. Sitting under a cemetery tarp. It was one of those moments where people get quiet, freeze, shifting eyes back and forth trying to catch a glance at someone else...not sure if the others are amused or just apalled...then it became, "who's gonna break first"...and then we all just started laughing...'Holy crap, is THAT what this is?!" "We're awful people!" "We are so morbid!"
But screw it, we were dry (or close to it), we had walked the entire 24 hrs, and raised money for a meaningful cause.
And that was the first, and I am sure the last, Relay for Life my family has been involved in...
From now on, I donate my money in the grocery line...
