SEQUIM — Marie Meyers, like many in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, has a heart-rending story to tell about a loved one who fought cancer and lost.
“I’ll never forget her words,” Meyers, this year’s Sequim Relay For Life chairwoman, said of her mother, who died of breast cancer. “She said, ‘Marie, you have to get on with life.’”
True to her dying mother’s advice, Meyers has carried on the good fight against cancer, and she held back tears, as did many others, as she spoke to an audience of about 40 at the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon Tuesday at SunLand Golf & Country Club.
Meyers also talked about those who win their battles against cancer, such as her niece, who is a skin-cancer survivor.
The Sequim Relay For Life, which raises money for the American Cancer Society, will be Aug. 10-11 at Sequim High School.
Twenty-six teams already have raised $7,493 for cancer research, according to the website at http://tinyurl.com/6w72do6.
The first “Bark for Life,” a dog-walk event at Sequim’s Carrie Blake Park on North Blake Avenue, is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. June 23.
The event came about because “dogs are great caregivers,” said Tracy Radford, an American Cancer Society community relationship manager based in the Seattle area, who joined Meyers and Mary Perry, the Sequim Relay For Life community development representative, at the chamber luncheon.
The cancer-fighting organization works in partnership with Olympic Medical Center, which has a cancer unit in Sequim.
Remembering lost ones
“We remember those who have lost their battle with cancer,” Radford said of the Sequim Relay For Life.
Through the event’s luminaria ceremony, a loved one can remember and honor a family member or friend who died of cancer by lighting a personally decorated “wish lantern” made of a paper bag and a candle.
The purple shirts participants wear are “the color of hope,” Radford said.
The cancer society raises money and works with state lawmakers for legislation that ensures better treatment and air quality for patients, Radford said.
The organization provides hope, support and life, she said.
It provides hope to help those undergoing chemotherapy treatment, she said, including $350 makeup gifts to women who have lost their hair during treatment.
The organization also provides support for the “road to recovery,” offering volunteer rides to treatment sessions at Seattle hospitals and hotel rooms to stay in during treatment.
The cancer society provides money to funding research that seeks a cure for cancer, she said.
“We have come a long way, and that is because of the support from communities like yours,” Radford said.
Those who need help can phone 800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org, where oncology nurses are available to answer questions 24/7.
“Cancer never sleeps, so neither do we,” Radford said.
The Sequim Relay for Life will be last on the North Olympic Peninsula this summer.
The Port Angeles Relay for Life is set June 8-9 at the Clallam County Fairgrounds, while the Port Townsend event will be July 28-29 at Memorial Field and the Forks relay will be Aug. 3-4 at Forks High School.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
