The Honor Was Mine...

techmom99
Sat, 21 Jan 2017 18:02:02 +0000

Donating blood is something that I have done over the years just because I am able to do it. I am proud that I have raised 5 regular blood donors. S17 is already a gallon donor. It’s not a thing that gets you personal thanks and you never know who benefits from it, but it makes me feel good and my children feel the same way. H can’t donate as he takes blood thinners, but he has told the kids often how proud he is that they donate.

H and I have taken in several young men, friends of our sons’, over the years. One lived on our couch for a year after his aunt and uncle threw him out the day after HS graduation. He was living in an SRO and my 2 middle sons told us about it. H visited and felt that the boy’s roommate was essentially a pedophile and he took the boy’s stuff out and brought him home that day. Where it benefited us was that, prior to this, my two youngest sons had a horrible relationship. This young man really took to my youngest, who reminded him of his own little brother who lived in another state. When my older son would bully the youngest, this boy intervened in ways that H and I could not to talk to the older boy about the relationship with a sibling and the like. It really helped S17’s self-esteem to see that an older kid liked him for who he is and was willing to stand up for him. It has helped make S17 what they call “an upstander,” someone who is willing to stand up for the rights of others. Sometimes, you never know the outcome of a single act when you undertake it.