September 19, 2011
I’ve dragged my feet a little bit this year… I admit it. Light the Night is October 14, less than a month away and I’m just getting started on Team Tanner’s fundraising. I must confess that it has been tempting to just forget about the whole thing. Not because I don’t love this event or because I don’t fervently believe in the cause, but because I sometimes just want to close my eyes and pretend none of this ever happened.
But, it did, and it continues to happen to children and adults every day. And nothing will be solved by pretending that leukemia doesn’t exist. So, I’m putting on my big girl panties and announcing that we will host our third Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Light the Night team on October 14 at LP Field.
If you read this blog, I don’t have to tell you why this is an important cause. But, if you’ve never been to this event, I do want to try to tell you how special it is.
As you can see, Team Tanner had a nice, big team last year. And, I hope you will consider coming to walk with us this year. It is really a wonderful, celebratory event. We walk through downtown Nashville at night, across the Shelby Street bridge, down First Avenue and back across the river on the Woodland Street bridge. We carry beautiful lighted balloons — red in support of someone battling or who has survived blood cancer, white for the survivors themselves and gold in honor of someone who has lost the battle. I can’t really explain the way I feel when I look back across the bridge and see that sea of lighted balloons, except to say that it is a wonderful visual reminder that we have not been alone in this fight.
It is not a strenuous walk; just two miles of celebratory strolling. Tanner and Jake walked most of it last year and rode some in a wagon. There were even fireworks over the water. This year, the walk is on a Friday night, which makes it a lot easier for kids to attend, so I’m hoping we might get a nice group to walk!
Most importantly, this event raised more than $250,000 to fund research and support families who are affected by blood cancers — leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
If you feel moved to give to Team Tanner or even sign up to walk with us, you can click through to our fundraising page at http://pages.lightthenight.org/tn/MidTN11/teamtanner.
There. I’ve set the wheels in motion, so no more hiding now!
Love,
Beth