Editor’s Note: As a lead-up to this weekend’s Chenango County Relay for Life (July 16-17 at the Chenango County Fairgrounds), we’ve asked several participants to share their personal stories with Evening Sun readers. This is Why I Relay ...

Christine (Stockwell) Bordonaro

Captain – Life Goes On Relay Team

My husband Charles and I met May 22, 1992. We found out November 18, 2002 that he had colon cancer, later to find out he also had liver and lung cancer. He fought for 3 years to beat the cancer. In October of 2005 we found out the cancer was in his back. He still continued to take all kinds of treatments but still the cancer continued to grow. We were told on November 18, 2005 that there was nothing else that could be done, it was just a matter of time. This was the worse news possible, being I was 7 months pregnant with our child and November 18th was also my husband’s 50th birthday.

On December 20, 2005 at 8:45 p.m. God called my husband Charles home. After 3 years of fighting he was finally in peace and free of pain. Our daughter Kathleen was born January 1, 2006.

I am doing the Relay For Life in loving memory of my husband. Also, to teach our daughter that it is important to remember her daddy in this way and to help raise money so that a cure can be found and others can be helped. I pray that God will work through us and show other’s that just because your loved one is taken from you because of cancer, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you or want great things for your life.

God has truly blessed me with 13 years with my husband and blessed me with a beautiful daughter who shows me every day that I am blessed.

I pray that we are able to help others and show them that even after a death of a loved one that Life Goes On and you can be happy and blessed.

Acts 20:35 (KJV)

I have shown you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Donna Moorhead

Captain - UCC Greene Relay Team

Back in 2004, the pastor of our church asked me if our Mission Committee had ever thought about participating in the Relay For Life walk. I told him that we hadn’t, but supposed our committee could discuss it. His wife had just been diagnosed with cancer and several of our members had been affected. Well, we discussed it and thought we could try to get a group together. We presented it to the congregation and a team was formed without any difficulty. By the time of the event, our committee chairperson was also diagnosed with cancer, which brought the cause even closer.

I have been the captain of our team each year until 2007, when my husband received his diagnosis of cancer. After taking that year off because of his surgery and intense treatments, I once again got together a team in 2008. This year will be our 6th year helping to fight this awful disease. I do it for my husband, my church members and all those I see each week when my husband has his chemotherapy. My daily prayer is that better ways are found to wipe out the cancer diagnosis and I know God is listening!

Kylie E. Renfrow

Captain – Cancer Sucks! Relay Team

“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have”

There are many things in this world that can turn a person’s life upside down in a matter of seconds; most would agree that cancer belongs at the top of that list. Cancer not only affects the diagnosed, but it changes the lives of friends, family and loved ones. Therefore, it is not only the one fighting that has to be strong. When someone you love is battling cancer, every surrounding individual must prove the greatest inner and outer strength in order to preserve hope. 

My stepfather was the strongest individual I have ever known. He chopped down trees, flew airplanes, and could turn any frown into a smile. He taught me how to drive a car, use a snowmobile, and shoot a gun. He provided a loving, caring household and showed me the true meaning of family. But after a short five month battle with colon cancer, he was done being strong. When he became weak, it was our turn to fight back the tears, hold his hand as tightly as we could, and tell him everything was going to be okay. It was our turn to be strong, so that he could find his peace he deserved.

I Relay to honor the survivors, encourage the fighters, remember the fallen, and to support every life that has been affected by cancer. I Relay to show strength, and to remind those caring for a loved one, battling cancer, or even facing death, how important it is to stay strong.

Rest in peace, Dano.

Look for more “Why I Relay” stories in Thursday’s Evening Sun.