People always ask why I relay or how have you been touched be cancer? I relay for many reasons and I have been touched in many ways....When I was  13 my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 vulva cancer(this is when I first started doing relay for life) it was very hard watching my mom being so sick and feeling so helpless and having to take care of her so much at such a young age...my parents were always gone at this time always in the hospital for treatments so my grandma was there taking care of me and my brothers. after about two years of treatments and hospital stays my mom started her recovery, about a year after my mom was done her treatments my grandma had become ill and at first the doctors didn't know why, after about a week in the hospital we found out she had cancer and it was EVERYWHERE and there was no hope, all the doctors could do was give her meds to help ease the pain, so she was sent home on hospis to just wait to die, now the same grandmother that had taken care of me the past two years now need myself and my family to take care of her...it was very hard to watch her knowing there was nothing no one could do...about a week later she passed away...about a week after her death my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, me and my brothers didn't know that he had cancer till about a month after he was diagnosed my parents wanted to wait till after the holidays to tell the family...my dad was very sick he was worse then my mom. my mom was lucky enough to not need surgery  but my dad need surgery before any treatment could be given, and for the longest time the doctors did not know where the cancer was coming from... my dad was very sick after his surgery and the doctors messed things up and he some how was temp. paralyzed on the left side of his body. he still to this day has problems raising his arm completely, my dad had a hard time recovery from the surgery and we decided to stay at my grandmothers house so he didn't have to go up and down stairs, that was hard to stay in her house right after she had died...my dad didn't need to have treatment as long as my mom after a few months of treatment his cancer was gone....both my parents are doing great and are great full to have won the battle...I am now 20 and about 3 months ago my other grandma was diagnosed with cancer she has a fast moving non responsive to treatment cancer her only hope is surgery....she had the surgery and she is now very very sick...she is old and weak, and has been through a lot she had many health issues to begin with after having 9 kids...im not sure what kind of surgery she had but I am told it is very serious and is about 3 months recovery...she is getting weaker everyday and there nothing more we can do but sit back and watch and wait....if cancer wins this battle it will hit my family very hard my grandma has 9 kids and 30 grand kids, I am so scared for her and she means a lot to me and this whole family, she was there when my parents were sick, she is an amazing person and after all she has been through and is going through she never once lost her faith, that is what is keeping her alive, I admire her for that...so that is how I have been touched that is why I relay, for my mom, my dad, my grandparents..for all those touched for everyone that has ever lost someone for any one lucky enough to win... I am scared to death that I will get cancer one day I already have HPV which is the number once leading cause to cervix cancer. I feel as though it is a fact, that its all just a matter of time, I don't want my kid or my grand kids to ever have to go through what I have been through, I just want to know when it will stop....I relay for the CURE so people never know this pain and this fear.....So now i ask any one who reads this you know my story, you know why i relay...why do you relay?