BAKERSFIELD, CA - Two Bakersfield sisters will honor their mother's memory at Relay for Life with their music, in hopes of delivering comfort to those still fighting the disease.
Inside Salon Salon, the journey to end cancer starts with a trail of footprints on a mirror, beside Cassie Dunlap and her sister Lori Hight. Seven years ago, their mother, Kathy Lee was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
"The doctor came out and told us she had Stage Four cancer, which we didn't know what that meant really. We thought, how many stages are there?" said Hight.
Stage Four meant the cancer had spread to their mother's liver and she had little time to live.
"At the time, I had a nine-year-old son and I was pregnant with my second son. Some of my questions were, is she still going to be here when he's born?" noted Dunlap.
Six months later, Lee lost her battle with cancer, just three weeks before Dunlap gave birth.
"All I can say is I feel like God carried me through it. I remember feeling like I wish there was something I could do to fix it or if somebody could find a way to help her, but I knew that wasn't there," she continued.
The two sisters were inspired to honor their mother's memory by turning their emotions into music.
Dunlap wrote the song "We Will Fight," which is about inspiration and hope.
"I miss calling her. I wish I could call her right now and say 'mom, I'm going to be on the news.' Just little things, calling her every day. We need her. I'm 36 years old, but I still need my mom," said Hight.
The sisters, along with their friend Tiffany Goldsmith, have a band called Vowed To One. The three performed at last weekend's Wasco-Shafter Relay For Life. They will take the stage Saturday in Bakersfield.
"I can honestly say it's not easy to get up and do what we do, but there's people going through it right now and I do it for them," explained Dunlap.
"I feel like that's what my mom would want us to do," she continued.
They will perform on stage Saturday night after the luminaria ceremony.