HomeTwenty-four-seven
Gender: female Member Since: September 13, 2007 Last Signed In: November 13, 2008 Blog Views: 839 Send To A Friend Sign Guestbook Add as a Friend
You Can't Take It with You, So Why Not Give It Away...
Two Years Greater Fair-weather Friends Life Cycles Life's a Beach... Outbreak Out with the old, in with the new... Same Sh*!, Different Day... Life on the farm... Life or Death September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 Here's where I'll rant and rave about motherhood; the ups and downs and ups again. There are always ups! 
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Some of you know the saga of my life. It's not epic, that's for sure, but it's filled with plenty of adversity and loss. In the end, the heroine prevails and comes out a better person from the trials set against her. Look at me know. I may be on meds, but I'm a well-adjusted person; healthy and happy. ;) One of the earliest trials I had to endure was the loss of my uncle at the age of eight and shortly after and more impacting, the loss of my mother the following year. Sucksville, to say the least. However, there WAS a silver lining in my mother's death. She was a registered organ donor and because of her, two people got to live normal lives and one person was giving the gift of sight. They harvested both her kidneys and her eyes. Her liver, unfortunately, was shot. Amidst feelings of anger and abandonment, I sometimes thought of my mother as a hero of sorts. I thought it was so amazing that she was still alive inside of someone else. I often wondered if her organs made the people think and feel like she did, but that was just the musings of a little girl who had watched too many episodes of Super Friends. The day I tested for my driver's license, I signed up to be a donor. Against the teachings of the Catholic Church, I decided that I wanted to be cremated because your body just rots in a box anyway, on hallowed ground or otherwise. "Take it all," is my feeling. When my son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I wished more than ever I could just slice open my abdomen, yank out my pancreas and hand it to him. They're not quite at that stage yet. But medicine is amazing and who knows...maybe some day he'll can walk around with his mother's pancreas, looking at the world through skeptical, yet forgiving eyes. As a freelance writer, I recently had the opportunity to do an article on a seven-year-old boy with leukemia named Dominic Mott. Learning about his relapse and the thousands of other kids who have it almost or as bad as he does made me want to do something. Thankfully, I don't have to die to donate bone marrow. They just swab your mouth and process your info and it in a database. If you're a match, they call you in for a procedure that is nothing, especially when you think of what the person in need of the marrow is going through. You might have a few aches and pains for a couple of days. Big deal. I'm going to the CHP's Annual Blood Drive on May 7th from 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the West Sacramento Headquarters location. The address there is: CHP ANNUAL BLOOD & MARROW DRIVE They are doing marrow screenings as well as taking blood donations. Also, I was told that they will be waiving the registration fee for the bone marrow screening! IT'S FREE! There is a huge need for minorities and multiracial donors, but that doesn't let the whities off the hook. You never know for whom you'll be a match. If you can't make the CHP drive, you can call BloodSource and set up an appointment to donate anytime. Their number is 1-866-822-5663 or visit bloodsource.org to find a location near you. Don't be a lazy bones. Donate before it's too late. |