The "Big C": When I first heard this term it was said by family to ease concern of the marathon my dad was going to battle.

The media coined the term the Big "C" after John Wayne died from cancer. Seemingly appropriate since he was a big man and he once said that it would take something big and bad to bring him down.

My father, a stocky German with countless bar brawls to brag about, lost the same fight.

For months each diagnosis and treatment progressively became more difficult. It took a while before my brothers and I noticed that the worried faces we saw each visit were new – and the number of cancer victims was more than just the one we could handle.

Although the numerous doctor trips were ominous, there was always something in light that the staff always offered: hope for that cure that empties their waiting room someday.

Hope is a great motivator, and so is the inspiration from the stories and faith of their families that share at an annual, nationwide event called Relay for Life.

Many families who have had someone die from cancer and the survivors of the disease are gracious to the community support they receive. Each year for the past 21 years, communities ban together to participate in Relay for Life, an overnight marathon to celebrate living, education, and fighting back.

To pull the cliché that each step is a step in the right direction, the event doesn’t do justice to the grim and arduous marathon cancer patient do of their own. Everyone has their own reasons why they Relay. Maybe it’s a family member, a friend, or even ourselves who has been diagnosed with cancer. We all Relay for the same outcome

The American Cancer Society works in communities across the country to provide programs aimed at reducing the risk, early detection, ensuring proper treatment, and empowering people battling cancer to cope and maintain the highest quality of life.

The opening survivors walk at the event doesn’t just honor those who beat the disease, someone once told me it’s not about the end but the journey.

I’ve met a handful of survivors or families of patient and I’ve learned that surviving cancer is more than just getting through the treatments or finding the will to live. It is the proverbial rock dropped into water sending ripples in every direction. Only in cancer, the rock is a 20-ton boulder.

Talking with survivors, it’s clear that facing cancer is the single most challenging event in a person’s life.

It is about money – money for treatment, money for rent and groceries.

It is about fear and sickness and the reaction of others to your new circumstances.

Emotional support can be critical to surviving cancer. And those who do survive want to celebrate.

Those who survive want to help others beat their disease. Those who survive want to prevent future victims from every worrying if they will or will not be able to walk their own survivor’s lap.

But they can’t do it alone. They need you to help save lives. They need these events that someday the "Big C" word "Cancer" will be just another word in history books.