Lifesaver Club

Have you ever experienced the feeling that you would do WHATEVER it takes to help a friend? That's how we all feel about Susan. For those of you who don't know, I work at my church (Trinity United Methodist) on the Children's Ministries Team (CMT). We are so blessed to have each other and are more friends than co-workers. We love working together and have such a strong team. We each contribute our unique talents and characteristics to better our ministry for the children and families of Trinity and our community. Yes, I'm proud. I know this is not common--loving your job and your co-workers--but it's how we are. Susan is a VITAL part of that. Without her, we wouldn't tick. So when she mentioned that Shands(where her father has been for weeks) was in need for blood, we didn't hesistate to donate. They need ALL types of blood, but types A and O most of all. The CMT has only A and O. Coincidence?

We marched in like we were on a mission... some of us felt a little better about it than others, but we were all determined to accomplish our task, faint or not. Gail and I had given blood many times before. Susan and Aubrey hadn't EVER given before. In fact, Aubrey doesn't even like the "B word." But she went! If you've even given blood before, you know that they ask you a gazillion questions about medication, illness, etc. And they ask you in a little curtained off area to maintain privacy. What was so funny was that we could tell when one of us was asked "Have you even been in prison or jail?" or "Have you ever been with a prostitute?" You would hear a giggle through the curtain...some laughing WAY more than others. (You know who you are! lol) So we answered all the questions, had our blood pressure taken (mine was 100/60 -- woo-hoo!), and our fingers pricked for our hemoglobin. After that, we were directed over to the "donation area" and sat in lounge chairs. I commented how they should be serving pina coladas because I felt like I was at the beach with the way the chair reclined. But there weren't any. Oh well...

Aubrey was to my left, Susan was across from me, and Gail was to my right. For those of you who know us, it was no surprise that we were not the least bit quiet--laughing, still joking about being in prison and basically keeping the amateur donors in good spirits. It was Aubrey's turn and she was such a trooper! She wanted to cry, but didn't. And to make her feel better, the women running the joint even covered her arm with a papertowel so she wouldn't see the needle and out a bag of ice behind her neck. But she never fainted!

It was my turn. My veins are trouble. They are practically invisible and the phlebotomists always go between each of my arms to determine which one is the best. When they finally select the one, they have to use a special needle and bag to make it work. It takes twice as long for me to donate than normal people. But we got it working and I was on my way. Gail was next and I think she was done before me--even though she didn't start until after. She's a pro and made all of us look like pansies. ;)

Susan was last. When it was her turn, they immediately reclined her all the way, put ice behind her neck and said it would go fast because she has "pipes for veins." It did and she was great.

All in all, I think we accomplished two things... we donated blood in her father's honor and entertained the LifeSouth staff more than anyone else they had seen that day. We love making impressions! :)

Here's the picture of the Lifesaver Club... all of us in our matching shirts we wore with pride. We love you, Susan and are so glad we made a difference together!


















The Lifesaver Club: Susan, Gail, Me and Aubrey