Relay for Life

This is perhaps the greatest letter to the editor ever from our local paper regarding our recent Relay for Life for Cancer Research:

My husband and I shared a sleepless night this past Saturday, May 5, because of loud music being played over the loudspeakers at the middle school nearby. The sound permeated the house even with the windows closed. Disturbing to say the least, but when the music was still blasting when the sun came up Sunday morning it was clear that the City of south Lyon had given permission for this intrusion. Never in over twenty years have we heard loud music for an entire 24 hours.

Upon calling city hall on Monday morning to place a complaint, I was given a non-emergency number to call at the police department where the clerk put me on hold to inquire about the source of the music and explained that the fire department had sponsored the Relay for Life cancer research event at the middle school that weekend. I then was given another phone number for the non-emergency dispatch so I could request an officer to come to the house and file a report. Guess what? The "cause" lost all of its importance when we were treated with total inconsideration by the city we pay taxes to and were made uncomfortable in our home.

We want to know how this could possibly be rectified by filing a police report? I called city hall to register a complaint and was promptly given the brush off. Shame on South Lyon for deciding when its residents can sleep. Ridiculous and rude would be the best way to describe this event last weekend. Apparently the City of south Lyon only cares about tax dollars and not the residents who pay them.

I sent in the following response to the paper, which Cathie and I laughed about all night:

Last year I had the opportunity to walk in the Relay for Life with my Mother, who was battling Pancreatic Cancer at the time. It was an amazing moment for my whole family as we walked the survivor lap together with my Mom. My mother passed away this past October, however this year I had the chance to see a friend who is a cancer survivor walk in the event as well.

I know Jim and Karen Olson gave up a sound sleep and I want to thank them for their selfless sacrifice in the support of the Relay as people walked to raise money to find a cure for cancer. I'm sure after thinking this through that Jim and Karen have come to realize that the "cause" as they refer to it deals with real people, like my Mom and my neighbor who have suffered many more than one sleepless night. There are many that have fought a much larger injustice than just that of one night of loud music; they have fought the injustice of cancer.