Everybody hurts, but in this town everybody helps, tooWhile covering Rock County’s Relay for Life in Luverne Friday night, an old R.E.M. song, "Everybody Hurts," kept popping into my head.It starts, "When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone, when you’re sure you’ve had enough of this life … well hang on.Don’t let yourself go. Everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes."A lump filled my throat when I imagined the collective pain of more than 500 people gathered at the city park that night.You don’t have to hang around a Relay for Life very long to realize nearly everyone you know is affected by cancer in one way or another.The way I saw it, there were three categories of people relaying Friday night: those in remission from cancer, those currently in treatment for cancer, and those relaying in memory of someone lost to cancer or in support of someone living with cancer.Bringing together all those people in the same place at the same time for the same reason produced an unmistakable emotional energy.The Survivor Walk was especially moving, when a throng of local cancer survivors released their white and purple balloons to "let go" of their illness, as if to declare themselves free.The tear-streaked faces turned upward while the purple and white dots disappeared into the great beyond. It was a powerful, overwhelming moment, even to the news photographer, who let go a tear of her own.It was a tear of joy — of shear triumph — for the survivors and their families who had been through so much to be able make that first heroic lap around the park.It was a tear of anguish for the cancer patients and their families currently structuring their lives around treatments and hospital stays. … It was a tear of hope that they’d be back next year to release another balloon in the Survivor Walk.Finally, it was tear of deepest sadness for the families relaying to remember those who lost the fight against cancer. How unfair for them to see the survivors complete the lap without their loved ones among them.Yet, in sharp contrast to all this pain, Friday’s Relay for Life again brought to light a silver lining on the cloud of cancer.Local volunteers raised a whopping $60,000 for the American Cancer Society to support research for a cure.It occurred to me that as long as everybody hurts, whether it’s cancer, or family changes, or physical disabilities, or financial stress or whatever … It’s best to hurt here in Rock County, where everybody also helps.The local event raises money for a cure, but more important, it raises awareness of the disease and brings the community together under a compassionate umbrella of support.On my way home, the R.E.M. song played quietly in the back of my mind: "Everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends. Everybody hurts. Don’t throw in your hand. Oh no. Don’t throw in you hand. If you feel like you’re alone, no, no, no, you are not alone."
