the first time i gave blood was about eight years ago, as part of a college blood drive in which ms. rev's school was pitted against its most hated sports rival. the woman who found my vein (i use the word 'found' rather loosely here) did an awful job. i could feel the needle the entire time. i was sweating profusely (not glowing, or perspiring, or whatever. sweating). i almost fainted afterwards. it was one of the most awful things i'd ever done voluntarily (voluntarily). i quickly became one of the 95% of people eligible to give blood who yet does not. plus, hated sports rival got more blood than we did; my blood-letting was all for naught.
fast forward to now. several kids in the parish have cancer (yes, more than one). one of them hosted a blood drive at a local bank probably about 8 months ago. i wouldn't go so far as to say i liked it. i mean, really. let's not kid ourselves here. it's just that giving blood wasn't the horror show i remembered it being. other than the fact that the people are always disturbed that i've been to kenya (in june 2005), and other than the fact that, in this day and age, they have to verify EACH TIME that the area is "okay" (i'm actually not convinced that i was not in a malaria zone; i also think that the malaria would have shown up by now), it's not so bad. today i got a great apron. i tried to post a pic, but it was HUGE. the apron says, "i love pumpkin pie," except it says, "I (heart) (picture of pumpkin) (pi math symbol).
the moment i saw it, i was happy that such an apron was now in my possession because...
- the mr.'s grandmother gave relentlessly to the disaster relief section of the american red cross (carried a pager and everything). he'll love that the apron is from the red cross.
- the mr. loves my pumpkin pie (yes, i bake. sort of).
- the mr. loves math. he bought a calculus book FOR FUN the other day. ... yeah.
- the mr. loves to cook. cooks need aprons. it's a scientifically proved fact.
i wrote the kid a card: "thanks for helping me get over myself. go socks!"
3 comments:
Aren't we supposed to be nice to you if you give blood? Seems like that's what the stickers say. So....you look pretty.
my sticker said, "give me a hug... i gave blood!" and had a teddy bear on it. but i'll take the "you look pretty" comment.
Ok, unrelated. I just read your piece in the e-zine. You rock! You and I need to go shoe shopping. You are also adorable! I feel like you wrote that piece for me. Thanks!
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