Esten and his family will lead the Light the Night Walk in Nashville.
Nashville star Charles Esten and his wife, Patty Hanson, have a deeply personal reason for their close involvement with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Addie, the youngest of their three children, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia 13 years ago. At the time, she was 2½ years old.
“As you can imagine,” Esten says, “that sort of devastated us, and scared us to death. But the first thing we heard was that there was hope — and there were things that could be done.
“And sure enough, 13 years later, she is extremely healthy.”
Esten gives credit to a higher power for his daughter’s triumph over the disease that threatened her life. (“Believe me — I spent a lot of time on my knees!”) But he’s also grateful to the medical researchers and specialists who helped even the odds in Addie’s favor.
“It's not just because of the research that was done,” Esten says, “but also because of the funding that enabled the research. That funding comes from many places, but one of the best is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.”
This year, Esten is serving as honorary chair of the LLS-sponsored Light the Night Walks, a national campaign to raise funding and awareness for LLS programs with group walks in almost 200 cities nationwide. Participants carry illuminated lanterns — white for survivors, red for supporters and gold in memory of loved ones lost to cancer. On October 9, Esten and his family will be leading the annual Light the Night Walk in their adopted hometown of Nashville. And he’s actively encouraging others to follow his lead in their own communities.
“People ask me what a Light the Night walk is like. Well, imagine 6,000 of us on a night by LP field here in Nashville, and everyone has a lantern. Your lantern might be white, and that means you are a survivor of leukemia or lymphoma or blood cancer. It might be red, and that means you are walking for somebody who is fighting their battle against leukemia or lymphoma right then. It might be gold. That means you are walking in honor of somebody who lost their battle, and you want to help somebody else so they don't lose their battle.
“In that time when you or a loved one gets that diagnosis, you feel very alone. And it's very dark. But on that night, you are not alone. And it is not dark. You have thousands of lights around you. And with you.”
You can learn more about the Light the Night Walks by referencing the LLS website. And you can read more about Charles Esten — and the story of his daughter’s triumph — in the October issue of Cowboys & Indians, which is now on sale at newsstands and other retail outlets.
From the October 2015 issue
