Sponsor Spotlight: Allie

Happy Tuesday ladies! There's only one more day until hump day, which is the halfway mark to the Weekend. I guess that's a way to look at it so the Weekend doesn't sound so far away! I'm excited to tell you that I have another guest today. Allie was the second person to make such a sweet donation! Allie is such a sweet girl - I can honestly see the start of a good bloggy friendship between us. As I do with my other sponsors. I honestly got lucky! <3

_________________________________________________________________________________

Hey everybody, I'm Allie from A Day in A Joyful Life. I'm so honored to be here guest posting for Heather today. Normally I write about whatever is going on in my life, or just what pops into my head. Often it's random, sometimes it's frivolous, but today it's serious. I've just recently become acquainted with Heather and her lovely blog, and what drew me to her initially was her post on giving away ad space on her blog in return for sponsoring her participation in ACS's Relay for Life-- clearly this girl is awesome. Thank you so much for having me, Heather, and for asking me to write a bit about such an important topic.

Cancer is possibly the scariest word in the English language. Definitely in the top 5. It blows my mind to think about how many times that word has changed lives for the worse. One day you're going about your business, worrying about something that will soon seem trivial-- like the price of gas, or whether Kim and Kanye are the real deal-- and then just one word changes the way you view everything.

I'm almost hesitant to say that I've never personally been effected by cancer. I think it makes me almost abnormal, never to have had a family member or close friend be diagnosed. It scares me to voice that because the superstitious part of me is afraid that by putting that statement out into the world cancer will realize that it has "missed" someone and come hard at me or someone I love. It also scares me because I feel like I'm waiting for it. Waiting for a phone call letting me know that someone I care for, someone close to me has been diagnosed. Waiting for something else to add to my laundry list of my own health problems.

I hate cancer. I don't think anyone likes it, but I truly hate it. I hate the power it holds and the fear it causes. I hate it for the lives it's stolen; the parents, siblings, spouses, children, pets whose lives have been cut too short. It's for these reasons that raising awareness and funds for research is so important. We shouldn't have to live in fear of watching those we love suffer, or even worry about the possibility that they might.