I decided to enter the Relay for Life this year because for a long time I have not talked very much about having had cancer 11 years ago, and this was one way for me try to open the dialogue.  Too often cancer is a very silent disease.  People who have it may not know, and when they do, they and/or their loved ones often find themselves unable to talk about it.  I will be walking in celebration of being cancer free for all this time, and in memory of Jan Reed, the former director of my children's preschool, who suffered from a painful, undiagnosed breast cancer for over a year before finally being recognized at an incurable stage.  I am also walking in the memory of my grandfather, Sam Roybal, who died last year of recurrent, metastatic stomach cancer just days after telling me that he was fine and I did not need to come and visit.  I could list more friends, family members, and even patients that I have cared for who have been affected by cancer, unfortunately all of us can.  In this time when scientific endeavors have been woefully underfunded, the American Cancer Society is doing tremendous work raising money and giving support to researchers to help figure out the root causes and mechanisms of cancer in order that fewer people will be affected and more will survive.