World Blood Donors Day!

Yes, I am a blood donor!  I'm not too sure how I got started on this journey of donating blood, but I have carried on the legacy for many years, if not decades.  Whether living in Victoria, Houston, or Fort Worth, I have always been well-acquainted with the phlebotomist(s) at the local blood center.  In Fort Worth, Carter Blood Care reigns supreme as the place to make the life-saving gift of blood.  Who loves needles?  I don't, but I'm also not overly scared of them either.  Most of the time, the attendant makes a "good stick" that I hardly notice or feel.  However, there was this one time in Houston I will never forget.  The person in charge of drawing my blood that particular day stuck me wrong something fierce.  It must have hurt like hell because I reactively took a swing at the guy.  I'm sure that was a moment neither one of us would forget for a long time.  Usually I only donate whole blood, but the blood center often asks if I would instead donate platelets or plasma.  Declining due to the amount of time a platelets/plasma donation takes, I stick with whole blood.  (I'm looking at fifteen minutes for whole blood versus roughly two and a half hours for both platelets and plasma.  Is there really any choice here?)  Anyway, I'm glad to have an obscure holiday celebrating people like me for the sacrifice of blood.  It truly is a life-saving gift.

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