I asked my youngest son to go with me to donate blood (would have been his first time) yesterday. I put to him that it could be his Christmas gift to me, or in exchange for buying him a tank of gas. I think he felt bad that he was uncomfortable about doing it, but as a gesture of conciliation, he drove me to the hospital and, once there, actually asked if he could come in and watch. He was with me for all but the interview part (which they keep confidential since the questions are quite personal). When I was finished, he offered to go and get my my cookie and juice. (what a sweetheart!)

This boy of mine is 18 and stands about 6’4″, 200 lbs. A perfect candidate for giving blood. In fact, two of my other kids have given blood, but the rest steer clear. I’m not sure why, but partly due to fear of needles and/or blood, I think.

At United Blood Services drives, they share that only 1 in 20 (that’s only 5 % of the eligible populations of donors) people give blood regularly. At the Red Cross site, they say that since 9/11 many people started giving who had not done so previously. Over at Blood Saves, their site says that one pint of blood (the amount you give whenever you donate whole blood) can save three lives. Wow! I want to save lives! America’s Blood Centers shares that donated red blood cells must be used within 42 days.

True, not everyone is eligible to donate, and you can save yourself (and the workers at a blood drive) some time by looking over the list of who can donate at any of the sites below. A simple one is found at The Blood Alliance (look at the list below).

When I went to donate on Sunday, I was surprised to be given a “Ten Gallon” pin. I’m not really sure that I’ve donated that much blood, but I still felt awesome when they gave it to me. Then, when son and I headed to Costco afterwards, he bought me lunch (because he heard the worker tell me to “make sure my next meal was a hearty one”) AND loaded all the groceries into the truck, reminding me that I wasn’t supposed to do anything strenuous for the rest of the day.

I admit I felt like I was his hero for one day, and that sure felt great. I don’t know if watching the experience will make him more likely to try it next time or not, and, to be fair, he had a slight cold yesterday and would have been rejected anyway. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope he’ll try it with me in February when I can go again.

Meanwhile, my dear readers, if I’m on your holiday gift list (thanks for thinking of me!), please be a blood donor instead. You never know who you’re helping, but who doesn’t want to feel like a hero for a day??

United Blood Services
American Red Cross
Blood Saves
America’s Blood Centers
The Blood Alliance