Relay Soiree Success

This past Sunday, our Relay for Life community put together a free event for cancer survivors and caretakers. It was amazing. I meant to write about this on Monday, but a little life got in the way. It actually was good though that I waited because I have a couple pictures I can show you! :)

Since our Relay theme this year is International, our Survivor Soiree was too. Imagine a room full of finger foods, desserts, a photo booth with props, international dancers, and music, all to celebrate the lives of cancer survivors and the people who cared for them in their time of need. Those of us on the committee got donations from various restaurants for finger foods or we made something ourselves. There definitely wasn't a lack of food, though some types of food ran out faster than others.
 So what did I do? I helped check people in as they arrived. Then I was able to enjoy the night. My mom (who helped plan the event) woke up with a fever that morning so she unfortunately couldn't make it. I felt so bad. My dad took her place though. He played "customs officer" and made sure everyone had a name tags (meaning that they checked in to their respective tables - survivor or caretaker).
I believe that everyone who attended had an amazing time. The raffle prizes were donated by a lot of our committee members. Last year, my mom won 3 of the raffle prizes and I won one. Unfortunately for me, I just wasn't a winner, but my dad won the raffle prize themed from Germany. He was very happy. My friend, Jessica and her daughter, Julia, made out like bandits. They won 3 baskets, and 2 of them were Dr. Seuss themed. Needless to say, Julia was beyond ecstatic. Jessica told me that before Julia won, she said, "Mama, I feel lucky today." She's just too darn cute!

I'm so blessed to be a part of this organization even in the smallest way. It's events like this that can truly put a smile on a face. I know it did for mine.

Our photo booth pictures - lots of fun!

Me and Ronnie, our resident photographer

Where in the world are you from? Place your pin. :)

Philippine dancers

Philippine dancers

Leo, some Polish dancers, and Carole

Julia helping pick the raffle ticket winners

Cancer Survivors

The German basket my dad won

Julia's hiding behind her new Cat in the Hat

Mother/Daughter Day

That's exactly what today was; mother/daughter day. It started as early as 8:30am and ended around 4:30ish. I was originally just expecting to spend a couple hours with her since she signed us up to take this "Make your own Haggadah" class. But then the class ran late so there was no time to take me home before her next event - brunch with her BCO (breast cancer.org) friends. They meet once a month and celebrate their lives and help each other through tough times when needed. Before I even got there, I felt like I would be intruding on their special time, but I was warmly greeting with smiles and hugs. These ladies are a riot! It was a lot of fun chatting with them. They are all older (50+) and have such amazing spirits. One woman has been a survivor for 15 years! My mom is one of the babies. She's on her 4th year of survival. So proud of her and I'm so happy that she found some amazing ladies to relate to and keep her thriving.

For those of you that don't know, my mom is in her late 60s and LOVES technology. And I mean LOVE. When something new comes out, she wants it and usually gets it. Of course, she doesn't get it right away and saves up for it. But she'll get it. Last night I was given her old iPad since she got the iPad mini. And before that, she gave me her 1st Kindle after she got a new one. I'm not complaining. I love technology but my mom is like a technology whore. And she knows it. We laugh about it. It's one of the many things I love about my mom. I love that she can laugh at herself and the silly things she does. A good sense of humor goes a long way.

All in all, we didn't go out and do a lot, but the quality time we spent together meant a lot.

What do you do with your mom?

Mom and me (3 months) in West Orange, NJ