Earlier this week I vowed to do something a little out of the ordinary in the giving department every day in the hope that it would become habit. After all it is ThanksGIVING week. So far, my efforts have been (in my opinion) a little puny. Sure, I’ve opened a few doors for people, treated my daughter to some birthday goodies, visited a sick friend a couple of times, given a few compliments…the usual stuff. However, I’m a little disappointed in myself in that I haven’t really sacrificed or gone beyond the “regular” activities.
Upon leaving the hospital after visiting my father-in-law this evening, I got my BIG idea. There in the elevator was a poster about a Red Cross Blood Drive on Wednesday the 21st. “Give the gift of life,” it said. “That’s it,” I thought. “That’s my chance to ‘put my money where my mouth is’ and do some real giving.” For those of you who are regular donors, you need to realize that I’m a person who feels weak just thinking about needles and who nearly fainted the one and only time she gave blood. However, I have a rare bloodtype, B negative, and I’m always being reminded of how needed it is. Usually, I ignore such statements and rationalize that there are others who are braver than I, including a brother, a sister, and a daughter.
None of my paltry giving efforts of the past few days compare even remotely to giving blood. I’ll be there on the 21st. What about the rest of you guys and gals? How are your giving efforts coming along?
mom's musings 
How about studying your ‘sister’ relation to the earth and the past and teaching it to your daughter and friends so that they have a better anchor for their future.
You could start with..”How did women get to vote.” Who are OUR heroes. We have been talking about this on our forum and we are all amazed at the lack of information and thought out there. Women from all over the world are signing in…should you wish to join you would be welcome and your daughter and yourself may greatly benefit. Just stop in at the welcome center. We are a village on a journey. ……:) L
http://hermyourvillage.proboards107.com/index.cgi.
Hi –
This is Wendy from the American Red Cross. I applaud your kind hearted efforts! Good luck on Wednesday!
Hi! I’m also doing this on the 21st at the hospital. You are very generous, Jayne, you give so much without even realizing it. Have a wonderful day. P.S. I finally updated my blog…
Uh-oh. I guess this means that there’s no backing out. Maybe we can do it together. Tell me when you expect to do it, and I’ll join you.
I’ll check out your blog…seems like I posted something one night last week, Wednesday maybe
Hmmm….I’m O negative and when they come to town, I pay a little visit…but somehow I missed them a few weeks ago.
Haven’t been much of anywhere but I do volunteer to help either sort or hand out food at Agape. To repaet, so much need…
I’m determined to do it around the middle of the day. It’s just a needle, right??? I don’t know why I have such anxiety about it. When I think about what blood can do, though, it’s amazing. Once I worked with this man whose wife had just had their fourth baby when she began to hemorrage (I know that’s misspelled but am too lazy to look it up) heavily. She became listless and pale and incredibly weak. Still, she refused a transfusion because she was so afraid of AIDS. Finally, her husband persuaded her to do it, and within 30 minutes, she began to blossom.
Certain workplaces (gov’t) will allow donors to go home, in that case. It does leave some a little weak and if you have, for instance, low iron, it probably will make you feel weak.
I know some (not-so) funny stories about blood donations. ie, getting a day off, beer money, etc. I don’t know if Shepherd still pays people, but they used to b/c I was shocked and thought some wicked thoughts about people’s reasoning…I can’t say that I blame the new mother but we have to have faith!
Good luck with this and God Bless You for Your altruism!
I did it! I arrived at the hospital around 3:00 and didn’t leave until two hours later. There were lots of people ahead of me, and I finally figured out that it was because of shift changes at the hospital. I was a bit anxious, but one of my former students was there, and her sweet disposition helped. She sat across from me and smiled peacefully and contentedly the entire time as if to say “This is a piece of cake, and it’s a good thing we’re doing.”
The only problem came at the end when the nurse actually removed the needle. I suddenly felt faint and nauseated and incredibly warm. They tilted my chair back, turned on the fans, and put cold compresses on my forehead and neck. For a few moments, I thought they were going to have to call my husband to come get me because I couldn’t imagine ever getting out of that chair, much less driving home. However, three minutes later I was “good to go” and after eating some crackers and drinking some orange juice, I left. That’s the most giving thing I’ve done in a long, long time, and I plan to do it again. I’m not sure if it was because of the time of day, the holiday spirit, or the types of people around me, but it was almost a party atmosphere.
Oh, I did do one other good deed. My daughter Elizabeth and I were in Wal-Mart with a buggy full of stuff, and I noticed this young man behind us with a bouquet of pink roses. I told him to go ahead of us, and he said we had made his day because he was tired and in a bad mood. He then proceeded to tell me about his new girlfriend and about the best way to make chicken and dumplings. Elizabeth said he was drunk, and I must admit that he seemed to be slurring his words quite a bit, but hey, I enjoyed talking to him, and if I hadn’t let him go in front of us, I’d have never had that chance.
Have a wonderful holiday with your family. We’ll be in GA too…Rincon.