Our Gift of Life, Gives the Gift of Life

 
   Parenting is like rolling the dice, all you can do is hope for that desired outcome, well kind of.  We have tried to raise our children to be good people.  With Grace we are beginning to see the end game.  She is this strong, beautiful young woman who will take the world by storm.  I look at that child and everything that she has been through, and yet she continues to awe me with her bravery and fighting spirit.  I see this little timid girl who was terrified of the world and she every single day leaves that timid girl in her shadows.  The world will be a better place because Grace Lindsay was born, and that is especially true for at least one person who is possibly fighting the fight of their life.

    I am a blood donor, have been since I was 18.  I should qualify that first statement, with I am a "passionate" blood donor.  Other kids dreamed of driving, I dreamed of donating blood.  Oh there is no rational explanation for this insane desire, I just knew that when I turned 17 I would donate.  I did not realize what a gift I gave until I myself needed that gift.  Christopher and I have given blood since we began dating.  It's kind of our thing.  When the kids were little we would bundle them up and take them with us to donate blood, snacks and games in hand.  I always felt like it was important for them to see us donating and that way they would know how important it is.

    December 21, 2004 the night all of our lives changed forever, the night we went from a happy family of 6, to a heart broken, soul broken family of 5.  That night our van was T-boned by a speeding pick-up truck.  The impact ruptured our oldest's spleen, and tore mine in 8 places.  Grace's carseat saved her, and I thank God every single day for that built in car seat.  That night the ambulance flew with Gabe in it to Kington.  I cannot imagine how many bags of blood were required to keep our beautiful boy alive for those three days.  I do not know just how many bags of blood I myself used.  I had a bag in each arm on my way from Napanee Hospital to Kingston General.  I was told later by the surgeon who saved my life that had I gone half an hour more with out a blood transfusion, I would have died.  I came within half an hour of death, that is a very shocking limited amount of time to me.

    

    Had good people not donated their blood, my children would have to grow up without a mother.  This thought is very sobering to me.  I am alive because people took time out of their day to donate their precious blood.  Had good people not donated their blood, Gabe would have died instantly, instead of allowing us to love him, and in the most minutest of ways say our goodbyes to our formerly strong, healthy 9 year old boy.

    This August was no different really than any other night that there is a blood drive in my small town.  Christopher and I spent the day drinking lots of water in anticipation of our donation (we are pros now).  On a whim I asked Grace the night before if she was wanting to donate this year.  I was expecting a resounding "NO", and was shocked and delighted when she began to ask questions about donating.  After a dialogue about what to expect she said she would like to donate.  It was a proud moment for me.  To you this may sound ridiculous that I have derived so much pride in the fact that my child donated blood, but it's bigger than that.  This single selfless act (well selfless if you don't see that awesome cool 1st time donor button and those delightful tiny bags of cookies and juice a payoff) signals her desire to be more.  It signals her entry into adulthood.  It signals a desire to look beyond herself and think of others.  It signals the beginning of an adult that will change the world, and make this place a better place to live.  When you put it into those contexts, it's pretty hard not to be proud.

    My tiny blonde frightened child is shedding her skin, and growing.  She is growing into someone I am proud of, oh heck, who am I kidding I've always been proud of her.  It is a gift to watch your children grow not just physically but mentally, and philisophically.  Our world that can seem such a frightening place full of terrorists and gun wielding manics if we allow it to.  For me it's easier to look for the good.  Our world becomes more beautiful and happier when we choose to look for the good and to choose to be the good.  

    The Moto of the Canadian Blood Services is "Blood... it's in you to give", and this is true.  It costs nothing to donate your blood and to save a life.  It takes an hour of your life, an hour that you would probably waste looking at your phone.  There are no real long lasting ill effects of donating blood, other than if you didn't hydrate you may feel a little yucky.  What is a little yuck when you realize how good it feels to know the someone will live because of your tiny act.  I am living proof that giving blood saves lives.

    Hey world, there is a beautiful fighter who is making her way.  This kid is pretty fantastic, and hey world you are about to be a whole lot better because she's in it!