Over the years, I've attended and/or covered a lot of Relay for Life events.

And rather than dulling my emotions, every year I'm touched just a little more.

I am always amazed by the number of people wearing "survivor" shirts. I'm heartened by their strength, courage, and willingness to share their stories.

Relay for Life gives me the opportunity to remember the people in my life I've lost to this disease, and to give thanks for those I love who have beaten it.

And I admit it ... it makes me grateful for the health of myself, my husband and my children.

On Saturday night, I knelt on the track at DePauw University and lit a luminary for my grandmother, Ruth Hubbard, who died on May 9, 1979. She succumbed to liver and stomach cancer at the age of 65.

I marvel every year at the number of survivors, and how far research and treatment for this awful disease have come. I wonder if my grandmother had been born 10 years later if she might have been able to beat her cancer.

I wonder if she may have been one of the people walking the survivor lap rather than one of the people to have a luminary lit in her memory.

The sheer number of people at Relay for Life always boggles my mind, because I know that the majority of people there, even if they have not battled the disease themselves, have been touched by cancer in some way. They have watched their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends ... maybe even their children ... go through the horrific experience of the illness, the chemotherapy, the radiation and everything else that goes along with a cancer diagnosis.

I have to say, this place I now call home has impressed me in a lot of ways over the last 11 months. Every city, town or county has its claims to fame. They all have the capacity to pull together when it's necessary.

But I've never seen it done quite the way we do it here in Putnam County.

This was my second year to attend the Relay for Life here, and both years were larger turnouts than I've ever seen anywhere else. When I went to church Sunday morning, I heard people talking about how they had walked in the middle of the night.

People here don't just take time out of their busy lives for good causes, they make conscious efforts to make time for them. They understand the importance of giving to others in a way that I've never quite experienced before.

I am so appreciative of this county and the people in it. This is a very special place.