It only takes one to....

save a life
change a life
impact a life


The is the tree of life at the local blood bank. Those names on the wall have donated at least 100 pints of blood but some have donated over 200 and then the few, who take over an hour of their time, to donate platelets over 300 times... Yes my name is on that wall. 

I try not to judge people by first impression but when I was over the road  sometimes my life would depend on what my gut said and my head going along with it. After donating a pint of blood a young gentleman asked me what I wanted to drink as they want to make sure people who donate are well when they leave. I am so used to seeing retired people volunteering that I started to ask questions. He was a 17 year old Somali..

As the local high schools now require volunteer work, I asked him if this was what he was doing. He said no and then started to tell me about his life. He finished his volunteer work as a sophomore 2 years early.

His parents fled Somalia as refugees to America. They came here with nothing and worked any job they could get to not only improve their lives but to help other in need too.. 

Since he was so young I asked about his plans.. Masters at minimum but still wasn't sure in what as he knew he still had time to choose. He asked me a bunch of questions too. About driving a truck, all the hard work and.. how I got to America. This lead to talking about our family trees.. Mine being UK and Scandinavian.. His went back to his parents, his grandparents that are still in Somalia and a few aunts and uncles.. 

A chance encounter that hopefully he learned something as I know I did. 


As for the rest of the day.. Passed the physical with a few minor issues.. All age related as I'm not getting younger.. My dad was struggling to talk but was very aware of what was going on. We had some more end of life type talking, about the good times we had and... When I got home, my sister, her husband and their son was over to carve a pumpkin.. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week...