Polk County
Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 3, 2015 7A
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Survivors and caregivers kick off Relay for Life Polk County 2015 with the “survivor lap,” honoring those who are battling or have beaten cancer.
American Cancer Society 24-hour Relay for Life offers support, hope
for caregivers, cancer survivors; honors, remembers those lost to cancer
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Becky Lindquist
cried when she found out this
year‘s Relay for Life Polk County
would be issuing T-shirts to those
who have cared for a loved one
with cancer.
Those gray shirts with “caregiv-
er” written across the back sym-
bolize an often unsung, but vital
part of battling cancer. Lindquist
can tell two stories of being a
caregiver, one for her son, Kellen,
and for her mother, Deborah Kel-
ley. Both were diagnosed with
cancer in the same year.
“I’m not a (cancer) survivor,”
Lindquist said. “I haven’t walked
that road, but being a parent of a
child with cancer is a pretty hard
road to walk. I feel very over-
whelmed and blessed by people
recognizing that. It’s not the same
journey as a survivor, but it is a
hard journey.”
Saturday and Sunday, her son,
now 9, and her mother participat-
ed in relay at LaCreole Middle
School in Dallas. The American
Cancer Society 24-hour fundrais-
ing event drew 22 teams in its
15th year in Polk County.
“I can’t believe as a caregiver
how blessed I am to be here with
two people who were diagnosed
with such a tough disease,” she
said. “Here I am standing with two
survivors, and I think that is a tes-
tament to what relay does.”
Rick Bennett, wearing a purple
“survivor” T-shirt needs only to re-
member how old his youngest son
is to recall how many years he has
survived cancer. Nash, 14, was
born just days before Bennett was
diagnosed with leukemia.
“He and I, in a symbolic way,
share a birthday,” Bennett said.
Formerly a team captain and
Polk County event chairman, Ben-
nett said he is “retired” from Relay
for Life leadership, but he attends
every year to walk.
“I’m just walking for myself and
my family and friends,” he said. “I
can’t not come, even if it’s just by
myself, if I don’t have a team. I get
to see all my old friends.”
Members of St. Philip Catholic
Church’s Relay for Life team, “The
Spirit Moves Us,” understand the
feeling. With the exception of
2005, the team has participated in
relay every year since the Polk
County event launched in 2001.
Team members Vicki Bailey,
Sandra Tiernan and Maryanne
Baker have all served as team cap-
tains at one time or another and
still come out each year to sup-
port the cause.
“Every year another friend of
mine has been either newly diag-
nosed or died,” Bailey said.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Becky Lindquist, left, and Rick Bennett walk the track at LaCreole
Middle School in Dallas Saturday wearing their “care giver” and “sur-
vivor” T-shirts. They both have been involved with relay for years.
Tiernan, a 35-year cancer sur-
vivor, said it’s the camaraderie
only experienced at relay that con-
tinues to resonate with her.
“That’s what it is all about,
holding each other up,” she said.
Current team captain Jeremy
DePiero said he is proud of his
team’s legacy and its mission to
“to get rid of this crappy cancer,”
as one team member so aptly de-
scribed it.
Survivor, caregiver or team
member, everyone on the track last
weekend had a unique reason for
participating in the event that, col-
lectively — there are events world-
wide — is the largest fundraiser for
ACS.
But they all had the same goal.
“It’s a sad reality that there has
to be this (event) every year,” Ben-
nett said. “You would like to see
an empty field at some point. That
is why we do what we do, but the
reality is until there is a cure,
there’s always going to be a need
for this kind of event.”
Lindquist said while that cure is
found, Relay for Life serves another
almost equally important purpose.
She can remember her first
year, when Kellen was a baby in
the middle of treatment, finding
hope while walking the track.
“I remember there was another
child there, who I know is doing
really well also, a little guy walking
around with new hair growing,”
Lindquist said. “I was walking with
Kellen completely bald and here’s
this little kid in a wagon and he’s
got all this hair growing in and a
little survivor shirt.”
In that moment, she thought:
“We are going to be OK. That was
the feeling I got from relay from
the beginning, and that is such a
blessing for people who are in that
spot.”
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Many Relay for Life Polk County teams, like Dallas-based Holy-Walka-Molies, decorated
their tents to coordinate with the 2015 theme “Give Cancer the Boot.”
Kellen Lindquist, 9, carries links of a chain donating the number of years people on the
survivor lap have outlived cancer. Each color represents a different type of cancer.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Tents of Relay for Life teams were decorated in themes, Sunrise is a welcome sight to relay participants who have
such as this one, for the team Minions Fighting Cancer.
been walking all night in the dark, lit only by Luminarias.
Bailey Jobe lights Luminarias Saturday for the ceremony
remembering and honoring those who have had cancer.