Dance Marathon

Dance Marathon at the University of Iowa is quite something. So many dancers, all giving their time and energy to a cause--childhood cancer--that no one really wants to talk about. I should know. I have a childhood cancer survivor, and there are so many things that I would rather talk about than the role that catastrophic illness in one of my children did to my world view. The money it raises is serious cash--over a million dollars to devote to research and making the lives of children with cancer better. Now that is a cause that is easy to get behind! Let's try to decrease the chance that it will happen to someone else, and in the meantime, try to make the lives of children who already have the disease a little better. It is an impressive undertaking. Not only do the dancers dance, they also spend a lot of their time fund raising. Which has the secondary benefit of raising awareness about childhood cancer. I know that there are a number of genetic cancers that manifest themselves in childhood, but the rise in children with brain tumors is something of a canary in a coal mine scenario in my mind. What we do with our environment, especially things that endanger our water supply, makes me think we should really pay attention to some of these warning signs. Another benefit of the involvement of many kids is that they know that people their age and younger get cancer--maybe it helps to raise their personal awareness and allow them to participate more in their own health. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my son Tucker for the efforts he has made on behalf of children with cancer and their families. He has been a camp councelor at the summer camps for children who have had cancer and their siblings ever since he graduated as a camper himself. But this year he took the big step of being a part of Dance Marathon leadership. It has been a big time commitment, and he has done a great job at it!