Relaying a special message

Lauren Vane

When Mike Grumet talks about his wife Heidi, admiration emanates

from every word.

They met in 1977 when Heidi was working as a recreation supervisor

in the city of Seal Beach. Mike was head over heels for Heidi and he

knew the first time he saw her that she was the woman he would marry.

On their first date they played racquetball. Athletic Heidi came

out the easy winner.

“She absolutely kicked my butt,” Grumet said, laughing.

Years later Mike and Heidi married and bought a house in

Huntington Beach. They had two children, Henry, now 19, and Sarah,

now 17.

In 2002, Heidi was diagnosed with cancer. She underwent

chemotherapy and when the cancer progressed, Mike took Heidi to a

clinic in Mexico that specialized in stem- and live-cell therapy.

After a valiant fight, Heidi lost her battle with cancer and

passed away at home in March 2005.

“Never once did she complain, never once did she question God, it

was unbelievable,” Grumet said.

Through her years of illness, often filled with painful treatments

and debilitating side affects, Mike said his wife maintained her

strong will.

“It was courage and dignity under fire and I have so much pride

and admiration for my wife,” Grumet said.

This Saturday, a team organized by the Huntington Beach Kiwanis

Club will walk in Heidi’s honor at the American Cancer Society’s

Relay for Life.

“For us, it’s really important to support her and support Mike in

celebrating her life as it was,” said Kiwanis member La Val Brewer,

who organized the team.

Mike Grumet is a long-time Kiwanis member and the club has known

Heidi “forever,” Brewer said.

“It’s just another way for us to infuse some care into the

community,” Brewer said.

The Relay for Life, to be held Saturday on the Golden West College

track, is the ACS’s largest fundraiser, said Cat Mullins, volunteer

event chair for this year’s 11th annual Huntington Beach Relay. For

24 hours straight, the track will be filled with teams of walkers who

have collected pledges for the event.

Since its inception, the relay has raised over $2 billion for

cancer research and aid for cancer patients and survivors, Mullins

said. This year, more than 500 people are expected to join in the

Huntington Beach walk, Mullins said.

The relay kicks off at 10 a.m. with a lap to be walked by more

than 50 cancer survivors. Then, teams of 10 to 15 people will begin

walking the track; each team will have a member walking at any given

time during the 24-hour period. At 8:30 p.m., luminarias with the

names of survivors and those lost to cancer will decorate the track.

All participants will walk a lap together as the names are read

aloud.

“It is not just a fundraiser, it is a portal into our community,”

Mullins said.

Throughout the night, surfing movies will play on a big screen and

live bands will entertain walkers and their supporters. Booths

offering information about cancer and treatments will also be set up

around the stadium.

“It will be going on until the early hours of the morning and

beyond,” Mullins said.

Funds from the relay will go toward service programs for cancer

patients in Huntington Beach, Mullin said. Road to Recovery and A Day

of Beauty are two ACS programs for local cancer patients that will

benefit from any funds raised during the Relay for Life.

Road to Recovery provides transportation for cancer patients to

and from treatment. This program is crucial because many cancer

patients do not seek treatment because they do not want to be a

burden on their families, Mullins said.

A Day of Beauty, another ACS program funded in part by relay

dollars, is an opportunity for women cancer patients to receive

makeup and beauty tips from cosmetologists for women undergoing

treatments.

Mullins began volunteering with ACS two years ago as a way to

honor her father who died of cancer. Since then she’s met many

courageous people, she said.

“There’s something about losing your daddy to cancer that makes

you want to help other people,” Mullins said.

Though the empty feeling of losing a wife and mother remains

ever-present for the Grumet family, Mike will still come to

Saturday’s relay. Not only will he be there, he will be busy walking

and cooking homemade chili for the teams of walkers who will

undoubtedly work up quite a hunger.

“My mission in life is to make sure my wife is honored in every

way possible,” Grumet said.