Scenes From The Relay: Lantern Release Ceremony

The Relay for Life is usually a fun time for all. But there are occasional reminders of the seriousness of why the fundraiser exists. At the Home and Garden Expo, there's been a daily lantern release ceremony, every day at 4PM. It's suggested those watching set their viewers to Midnight.

In the ceremony, many dozens, well over a hundred, of paper lanterns slowly float up into the air, illuminating the sky. The lanterns represent friends and loved ones lost to cancer. The time I watched the ceremony with several other relayers, one talked about how his grandfather had taught him how to make his own paper. We each reflected on those we knew whom had passed away from the illness, and hoped that someday soon, there would be a cure for all forms of it.

Bixyl Shuftan