This is the first year that Melissa Castro participated in the Relay For Life of Peabody.  Melissa was a caregiver to her mother, who lost her battle just four months after being diagnosed in 2006.  From her involvement with Relay For Life, she is able to receive comfort, support, and healing from such an emotional time in her life.

Her mother had started a new life with a new fiance, retired, and was diagnosed just after moving.  At the time, she was given 6-8 months to life...and she survived for four.  "It's been almost 2 years and I still cry for her every day.  Mom, I miss you soooo much, and I cant' help b ut to wonder 'what if I had one day?,'" says Melissa.

Melissa most memorable moment of her first Relay experience was the Luminaria Ceremony.  Specifically, she remembers the luminaria bags spelling out the word, Hope, and the movie screen with everyone's name scrolling that had lost their fight with cancer.  "I believe that everyone we have lost somehow knows what we are doing and why we are doing it.  That maybe someday, we will win the fight, and no one else will have to suffer from this deadly life-sucking disease again.  I believe in hope, and miracles, and community."

Melissa fights back by raising money through Relay For Life. She knows that every dollar raised is a building block that will one day become the answer to a cure.  It has made her more aware of how many people cancer has affected, and that is why it is so important that we do find that cure.  "I never want my children to go through what I am going through right now."