We were on a similar plane eight days ago—same amount of leg room and same movie. But perhaps I’m not the same person. Nobody could be unaffected by being a part of Celebration on the Hill. Thousand of people came together on the east end of the Capitol Mall in a united mission

Each person could tell a story about why he/she joined the army against cancer. Cancer does not discriminate, so it’s a diverse army. The only common denominator at Celebration was the fight against cancer. In our group that walked up to Senator Ron Wyden’s office was a man whose wife was at the last Celebration on the Hill four years ago and then lost her battle. There were about half a dozen survivors along with a surgeon, a couple of researchers, and a hospice care giver.

In a few more hours we’ll be back in Newberg. We’ll unpack the suitcases. Cindy will start a week’s worth of laundry. The lawn will need to be mowed and all the things that make up a busy life will kick into high gear. On Monday we go back to work and on Monday approximately 1,500 people will die due to cancer.