In lieu of another lace picture (which I’m sure the world is *dying* to see… ha!), I’m posting about a much more important, and potentially life saving topic - Blood donation.

Martha’s mom is in the hospital and is in need of a blood donation.� It sounds like there is no blood of her type available for her at this time, which must be very scary for both Martha and her mom.�

Martha’s post today was the kick in the pants that I needed to make a blood donation appointment for this afternoon.� While I was in law school, I donated regularly at the Stanford Blood Center.� [If you’re in the Bay Area, I highly recommend donating there - they are super nice, and have the best post-donation cookies and juice!]� Since moving back to the Sacramento area, I’ve been putting off finding a donation center - it just wasn’t convenient for me, and I always had more important things to take care of.� Or, so I thought.� The truth is that donating blood is a minor inconvenience compared to the benefit it can bring to the recipient of the donation.� After reading Martha’s post this morning, I went online and found a Blood Source donation center right down the street from work.� I’ll be going in later this afternoon to donate.�

I’m sure that a lot of people who don’t donate blood are afraid of needles, or the pain.� I’m afraid of needles too.� Deathly afraid.� In fact, I started donating blood a few years ago in an attempt to get over my fear of needles.� It didn’t work - I’m still deathly afraid of needles, and can’t even look in the direction of my arm while the needle is in it.� But, after I donated the first time, the blood center sent me a letter that said that I was a universal donor and that my blood was a rare kind that they can use for premature babies.� And who can deny a premature baby of blood?� Not I!� So, I force myself to get over the fear every few months, because my minor inconvenience and discomfort can potentially save another person’s life.�

If you’re eligible to donate blood, I highly encourage you to find your nearest blood center and make an appointment as soon as you can.� If you’ve been making excuses for why you don’t do it, please reconsider - it is such a simple way to make a huge difference in someone’s life.�