Please Stand Up 2 Cancer 
I watch so much TV that I am usually behind in watching many shows. The reason is, I record most things and watch them at a later time. This allows me to eliminate commercials and make things move faster. Last night I finally watched the Stand Up 2 Cancer hour long special that was on last Friday night.
For those that have no clue what I am talking about – All three major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) came together last week and gave an hour of primetime television to the charity Stand Up 2 Cancer. The show was an hour long telethon of sorts full of stars, many were actually cancer survivors. Everyone on the show, other than the three network news anchors, wore t-shirts saying how hey were involved, i.e. survivor, in the fight, touched by cancer, and such.
The show included some cancer stories of the stars, normal people, and a segment where the stars took the place of the normal people who were too sick to be there and read their story as them. There were also a few musical performances. You can currently purchases them on iTunes with all the proceeds going to the charity.
The highlighted musical performance was a song called, “Just Stand Up”. It was sung by a blockbuster lineup of female singing stars which were all on the stage singing together. They were; Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Mellissa Ethridge, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, Leona Lewis, LeAnn Rimes, and Carrie Underwood. For me though, I liked the James Taylor – Sheryl Crow duet of Fire & Rain.
Stand Up 2 Cancer is all about raising money to put an end to cancer. The way that this charity and idea is different than the rest is that their fundamental plan to get to a cancer cure is different and smarter than the rest. Their plan is to bring the greatest scientific minds together to find a cure. Forget about who gets the credit and the fame – just compare notes, talk, brainstorm, and find a cure in a few years, rather than another decade or more.
Everyone is touched by cancer in some way, a friend, a relative, a co-worker, yourself. One person in America dies every minute from cancer. My sister-in-laws grandmother lost her battle less than two months ago. I lost my grandfather to three different types of it many years ago. My wife has lost multiple people to it. We both have a number of friends currently winning in their fights. The sure is out there, it is just a matter of how soon we can find it.
As one of the stars in the show says (it may have been Ron Reagan Jr.), “Think of the billions and billions of dollars we spend every year as a country dreaming up more inventive ways to kill one another. . . I’d say our priorities are pretty screwed up.”
Here is the hour long show in its entirety.
If watching doesn’t make you want to Stand Up 2 Cancer, I doubt my asking you to will make a difference, but it is worth a shot.
Please Stand Up 2 Cancer
If anyone would like to send me a message with the story of how you are touched by cancer I will try to put together a nice post including all the stories. I would prefer to just use first names in the story, but if you want I could use a full name, just let me know. If I get at least three stories I will do the post. I do hope I can help spread the story of your loved ones to others.
