“I’m going to hold this until someone stops.” The words brought tears to my eyes and my heart swelled with pride.
It was a rainy Saturday morning. My Relay for Life teammates and I stood under the awning at Firestone with baked goods spread out on the table in front of us. Jo was huddled in a jacket while Kiera stomped around in her rain boots. We finished setting up and leaned our team signs against the table legs.
We had debated about not having our bake sale when we saw the rain but we had stayed up the night before baking and decorating cookies.
After about 30 minutes of watching car after car drive by, we were beginning to feel defeated. I decided to grab one of our signs and walked to the edge of the parking lot. I gingerly held the sign facing out to the traffic.
I turned around to look at Aaron for support. He smiled at me. As I begin to turn back to the road, I saw Kiera pick up our other team sign. She walked over to me with a huge smile on her face.
She came and stood by me and then held the sign above her head. She looked up at me, face beaming and said the words I will never forget. “I’m going to hold this until someone stops.”My heart burst with pride and hopefulness. If my four-year old can stand and hold a sign until someone stops, so could I.
I reached for the edge of her sign and helped her hold it above her head. We laughed and waved that sign at people passing. Within minutes, we had several customers. Now, I can’t say whether they stopped because they saw the sign or because they heard about it on the radio. What I can tell you is that moment brought a lot of clarity to the situation.
I realized that if I had given up and gone home, Kiera would think giving up was ok. I also realized, at that moment, what we were doing was not for us. It was for a greater cause. There are people in each of our lives that are struggling with cancer and for me to give up a few hours on a rainy Saturday to raise money to help find a cure… well, that is worth it.
As I watched Kiera hold that sign above her head, I realized that as I was trying to teach her to give, she was teaching me to give 100%. I thought about the people that were dealing with cancer on a day to day basis. I thought about how I was almost willing to give up after 30 minutes, but my daughter showed me that with encouragement, I could continue on.
I want Kiera to grow up and know how to volunteer her time. I want her to grow and be a woman who will conquer anything and everything she sets her mind to. I want her to understand that sometimes we fail but sometimes all it takes is a smile to encourage others to continue on.
Brown County’s Relay for Life is coming up in a couple of weeks. I am excited to be a team captain this year. I am even more excited to share this with Kiera. We will be there from start to finish. Thankfully, we will finish at one a.m. I know my little girl will be exhausted and her Mommy and Daddy will be too.
Aaron and I will do our best to explain to Kiera why we are there and what we are doing. We will pack a sleeping bag, just in case she gets tired and wants to lie down. As for me, I am going to carry this picture with me and when I get tired, I am going to remember my four-year old’s words and keep on walking.
I know how busy life gets but I encourage you to come out, even if you can only come out for 30 minutes. The event is free to attend. There will be games, face painting, food, live music and so much more for small donations that benefit the American Cancer Society.
Come join us May 22nd, from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Early Longhorn Stadium. I’ll be the one trying to keep up with my four-year old bundle of energy.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a four year old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
