Fairy Tales and Heroine Needles

Yesterday was the first time I willingly gave blood. They were taking it here at work, large pints of it in skin colored bags and in trade I got a t-shirt, a mixed berry juice drink and package of Nutter Butters. Nutter Butters are only second to the Oreo on the “Best Cookies to dunk in milk” list. I actually only gave blood because I saw these tempting snacks and since I’ve been eating so healthy I needed an excuse to binge even if it was only for a moment.

Giving blood is not painless, oh no, do not let anyone tell you that. I am not here to discourage blood donation but I’m also not here to make you feel all warm and cozy by telling you lies.  First of all they take this strap and twist it around your arm really fast and painful without any warning. I yelled out, “MOSES!” because I thought if he could get the Hebrews through the desert then he could possibly get me through this miserable experience.  Then came the needle prick that was “going to sting for a moment”. Well, sting it did and then the blood wouldn’t come out and so they kept poking it around in my arm – MOTHER F&%#@ it hurt. It still hurts. I told them I was ready to stop trying and they said, “Well, we can try the other arm?” I acquiesced and stuck out my left arm. This time the blood was more forthcoming, the needle went in easier and in 5 minutes I had given them enough blood to satiate a vampire for at least a few hours.

The thing of it is, I’ve thought about taking steroids on occasion and this experience has led me to believe that nothing is worth sticking needles into my body – not even the blissful high of heroine – which I hear is so addictive that people will shoot it up in their eyeballs and between their toes. I’ll put a really large HEEEEEELLLL TO THE NO on that.

So after that painful experience I had to visit a customer’s house last night and help them with a wireless router configuration and software install. I got an email telling me to come a little later because “we are enjoying a really intense soccer game.” I arrived at the house and was greeted by an energetic golden retriever and a Scottish terrier.  I was given a diet coke and showed to the computer upstairs.  My customer was very sweet and we talked about House, American Idol and Grey’s Anatomy while I worked my computer magic.  Eventually the kids came home as they were with their dad watching a little bit of the girls soccer game.  The kids talked with their mom and I was amazed at how she was able to look through financial data and discuss homework, soccer, and email with her son. Dad came home and introduced himself and when it was time for me to leave the entire family was in the living room talking – without the television. You could tell they were a close family and very content. What is my point of telling you all of this? Well, my point is that there are families out there where the kids play soccer and the parents go and watch and want to watch, where there is money to pay the bills and where dad and mom are both involved in their children’s lives.  Every day I see it more and more and I’m actually surprised by it. I think that so often people don’t strive for that type of home life because they don’t know it exists. Children who have been born into homes where there isn’t enough money to pay the bills or to put food on the table don’t know that there really are some people who have this blissful life where mom and dad love each other and they don’t get divorced, they want to come to your soccer games and spending time with you is a blessing not a chore. I hope to have this some day. To create a home life for my family that is so blissfully happy that they never know the pain of divorce or financial struggles. Where dad is at home instead of working hard to make ends meet and that they always know that no matter what they come second only to God and their mother.

Fairy Tales may not really come true for some people… but I plan on making them come true for me.