At Rowan, 'Relay" co-chairs have a special bond

On this same weekend a year ago, because she couldn't walk, Julia England would recharge at the same time as her power wheelchair. Her best friend, Sami Musumeci, would wheel her into a storage room.

"We have to plug you in," Sami would tell her, insisting Julia rest. "You can't fight me on this."

Julia and Sami are seniors at Rowan University and co-chairs this year and last of the Relay for Life, a benefit for the American Cancer Society.

This year, Julia, back on her feet, would need to pace herself, a verb not usually in her vocabulary. The event ran from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday, and Julia's goal was to be walking at 6 a.m. for the last lap.

"My parents want to make sure I can walk at graduation," said Julia. "But for me, this is it."

These best friends couldn't be more different.

"I'm a volcano," says Julia. "Sami's much more deliberate."

"She's creative, outgoing," says Sami. "I keep track of the money."

They lived in adjacent suites freshman year, and Julia asked Sami to go to a Relay meeting with her. Julia is from Tabernacle, Sami from West Windsor.

Sophomore year, Julia turned an ankle, and soon, she said, it was black, painful to the touch, and she couldn't walk. She was found to have reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a painful nerve condition.

Julia worked hard sophomore year for Relay, but it was outside on an athletic field, in the rain, and in her wheelchair in the mud, she could only watch, making her even more committed. She and Sami became co-chairs junior year.

Julia spent the summer after sophomore year in the Cleveland Clinic learning to walk again. She had a relapse spring of junior year. The idea of walking at Relay this weekend motivated her, sustained her.

"Relay really saved me," she said.

So did Sami, who is in honors biology and plans on medical school. Sami took up the slack at meetings when Julia couldn't attend. She also helped Julia with personal needs, like dressing, and lugged her up many a flight of stairs.

"She was better than the boys," said Julia. "Seriously, Sami was more stable."

By 6 p.m. Friday the gym was full with 1,000 students and some family members.

"Because cancer never sleeps," Julia announced, "neither will we."

Students formed teams and would spend 12 hours walking laps around the gym. Many brought pillows and sleeping bags, even tents, but someone had to be walking at all times. Students had solicited donations, and would join in fund-raising and entertainment activities all night.

This event is much smaller than Thon, the epic Pennsylvania State University dance marathon that raises millions. But under Julia and Sami's leadership, the Relay organizing committee grew from 6 to 50, and overall student participation doubled. They raised $50,000 last year, and set an ambitious goal of $70,000 this time.

"Julia is the type of person who gets emotionally invested," said her boyfriend, Josh Levinson, a senior from Millstone, N.J. "That's a quality a lot of people don't have."

The gym scene was an impressive sight: tables for registration and donations, posters everywhere, strings of paper palm trees strung across the gym, concessions, dinner served to survivors.

Julia outlasted Sami in hula hoop. Julia's 12-year-old brother hit three straight in Bra Pong - a game in which bras were taped to the gym wall, cups facing up, with contestants tossing Ping-Pong balls. "I'm good at this, Mom," he said.

Julia ran a lap on the upstairs track during the president's challenge. Afterward, she started to limp, and took medicine.

At 1 a.m., boys dressed in drag, with grass skirts and coconut bras, to carry out the Hawaiian theme. Last year in her wheelchair, Julia got a lap dance. Not this time.

At 5 a.m., Julia, student teaching this semester and hoping to become a special-ed teacher, was getting some good experience helping exhausted college students learn to fox-trot. Her shirt was covered in chocolate from a pudding contest. Sami was balled up on a folding chair. She had made her and Julia matching purple flower pieces for their hair, but hers had fallen to her shoulders.

Dawn peeked through the rec center windows.

Julia and Sami jointly announced the total raised: $45,000. They thanked everyone and urged them all to join in for a final lap.

Julia and Sami walked arm-in-arm, slowly, aware of the significance. Both had satisfied yet wistful expressions on their faces.

The DJ played "Stand by Me."

I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear / Just as long as you stand, stand by me. At the end of the lap, they embraced in a deep, long clutch.

The masses went home.

Julia and Sami began peeling tape off the gym floor. Hours of cleanup to go before they slept.