WITH ARMS RAISED IN VICTORY!

Our little VILLAGE came together again ~ a community, united once more by a cause ~ this time, donating the "gift of life" to those in need.

Last Saturday in memory of Erin's 19th birthday, her peers and volleyball teammates, the St. Cletus family, our relatives, friends of friends and co-workers of friends, LT & St Cletus teachers, and kind souls we had not met prior to that day, came together in a spectacular effort of generosity.

Morrissey Hall bustled with the presence of people of all ages ~ filling with the happy sounds of music, chatting, yelling, laughter and a few tears.

In the time span of just six hours, the efforts of these considerate people resulted in the donation of
186 UNITS OF BLOOD!

CORRECTION ~ 186 DONORS
195 UNITS, DUE TO NINE DOUBLE-RED-CELL DONATIONS!

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

For those of you who missed the event and have been asking if you can still donate ~ YES!
Please click on "Ongoing Blood Donation Information" at the top section of my blog page. There is no time limit, and all future donations can benefit this particular cause. See details above.

The day began at 7:00AM, when the two LifeSource trucks arrived and the staff began unloading a ton of equipment. Things were in place for the first appointments at 8:00AM, and people began to stream in. During the first hour, we had 15 walk-ins along with the 40 people who had scheduled an appointment ahead of time, resulting in a little back-up. Thank you to all for your patience and understanding during that time, or any other time of the day when things took longer than you expected. Understanding how hectic a Saturday can be, I sincerely apologize to anyone who was inconvenienced by a delay of any kind.

And a special thank you to Lifesource representative Dennis, who helped me coordinate my first of what will be an annual event. This "guppy" here had a lot of details to think about, and Dennis' experience was essential.

We celebrated Erin's birthday with the community, resulting in her biggest party ever.

Photos in the sidebar show her birthday pictures along with a few of my favorite family shots, and were on display on the walls of the gym, mounted on lime green poster board of course! We took many pictures that day, but unfortunately missed a good number of people who were present. Please enjoy the ones we did capture, also in my sidebar. (I'm so sorry if we missed you.)


Sarah and her friend Carly burned CD's of many of Erin's favorite songs, and aptly labeled them, "B Positive", "AB Positive" and "O Negative", and music blasted away creating a fun party atmosphere.

There were bunches of fresh sunflowers.

We served yummy birthday cake, before and after donations, so everyone's system could have a little boost of sugar and really, what is a birthday party without a cake?

So many people that day arrived as first-time donors, and were willing to face into their jitters because "seriously, this is NOTHING compared to what Erin endured". Some were even willing to get poked a second time when the attempt to find a vein in the first arm was unsuccessful. Thank you to ALL who conquered their nerves.


The majority of willing donors were accepted. Only a few were turned away because of low iron levels, inaccessible veins or possible exposure to diseases due to travel out of the country. One of Sarah's friends tried to donate, and because of a recent residency in Europe there was a concern about her possibly carrying Mad Cow Disease! Through frustrated tears she pleaded her case to no avail, "BUT I'M A VEGETARIAN!" Thank you, to anyone who was unable, for your genuine intention to donate.

I have a confession. I'm embarrassed to say this was my first donation as well. Whew, I feel better for having said that.

For years, I didn't meet the minimum weight requirement (yes I know ~ HUSH!) and then I just got BUSY with life. I have no fear of needles and blood doesn't bother me a bit. I simply didn't even think about it. Then, I was raising four children, working, coaching, running to this football game and that volleyball tournament. When Erin was sick, I spent way too many hours watching her (and many other patients) get transfusions, and I got hit with a really sharp slap-in-the-face reality check. DUH Mary, that blood has to come from somewhere! Dave has donated a couple of times in the long-ago past, but was unable to do so on Saturday because he had a temperature the night before due to a bug he's been fighting. The two of us have vowed to become regular donors, every two months.It is such a simple and deeply gratifying experience.

Chris overcame his case of nerves, and held onto Erin's stuffed Lion (Sarah packed it for him just in case) while Dave and Tasha (Chris' girlfriend) stayed close for moral support ~


Matty was half asleep. He donated before work.
8:00AM is really early on a Saturday morning!



I want to especially recognize my sister-in-law Sue. She and my brother Jim live in Milwaukee, and Sue began donating at the Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin in January of 1986 ~ 24 years ago! She has donated faithfully, nearly every eight weeks since then (unless she has been ill or out of town), and has reached a total of 93 pints! This selfless act has been done for all these years and I JUST found out about it when we announced our drive, so she obviously doesn't do it for a pat on the back. Sue & Jim made a special trip here that day so she, along with their daughter Colleen and her husband Tony, could make a donation on Erin's behalf. Thank you so much Sue. You set a fine example for all of us.


The Sarcoma Alliance, to whom all funds raised from the Erin Potts Invitational Volleyball Tournament were donated, graciously supplied us with the sunflower seeds I requested for the event.


Every birthday party has take-home favors!

We made tags and tied them to the packets and gave one to each donor in memory of their act of generosity, reminding them of Erin's wish to "Have Fun" and encouraged them to go forth and "Plant the seeds of HOPE" when they walked out the doors.



So yes Sarah, your shirt is appropriate.

Cancer SUCKS ~ BIG TIME!


BUT, WE CAN SIT STILL OR
WE CAN MOVE ON WITH OUR ARMS RAISED,
KNOWING cancer CAN'T DAMPEN OUR SPIRITS!


BECAUSE WHEN WE OVERCOME OUR FEARS ~


AND TOGETHER, WORK TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF IMPORTANT ISSUES ~


WE CAN LIFT OUR ARMS IN SWEET VICTORY!


AND GIVE OURSELVES A THUMBS-UP FOR OUR UNITED EFFORT.


THE FUTURE HOLDS THE PROMISE OF A NEW GENERATION OF COMPETENT AND COMPASSIONATE NURSES.


YES!! WE WILL TRIUMPH OVER THE ADVERSITY!


AND IT'S TRUE,
LAUGHTER REALLY IS GREAT MEDICINE!
GEEZ MARGARET ~ HAVE FUN, WILL YOU!

It might feel as if life moves on, so I wanted to make sure you knew that for me it moves on differently because of Erin.
- LT teacher, Tammy Fear-Petrakis