"Neanderings" Turns Three!

    Earlier on in December, "Neanderings" turned three.
   This kind of blew me away, as some anniversaries are prone to do, simply because you tend to lose track of time and then forget that you have been doing one thing or another for as long as you actually have been.

   At the same time, there have been a couple of other blogging anniversaries to celebrate--Year One for "Strides", my running blog, and 10,000 page views for "Neanderings"--so I've kind of lost track a little of the "housekeeping" end of things.
   So, Year Three is in the books.
    As I usually do, I went back and took a bit of a look at what I'd been up to in "Neanderings" in the past year.
   There were no trends. Apart from a series of blog posts devoted to a brief Efudex treatment I found myself undergoing at one point, I was all over the place with my randomness.
   I wrote a little bit about crime (The Last Thing I Wanted To Write About, Dead building, and Boston), a little bit about the blogging experience itself (Be Careful What You Say, Where The Heck Have I Been, and I Am A Blasphemer) and a little bit about the aging process (Turning Sixty, Cranky Old Man).
   A couple of times I got into a bit of a silly mood (Apple, Halves and Important Stuff You Need To Know) and occasionally I wanted to touch on relationships (Carving, This Christmas, I Am Woman, Reunion and Autistic Boy Meets Damaged Woman).
   Apart from these, there were a whole host of totally random topics touched on, with titles like "Jesus, God and Facebook", "Coffee", "Hypocrisy", "Kika In The Bar", "I Am Unfriended" and "Would anyone like to sit on the purple couch?" I love random!
   Toward the latter part of the year, I also extended my blog audience to include Google+ and Twitter along with the ever-trustworthy Facebook. What this meant was that all of the sudden much of the "Neanderings" audience started coming from the States, whereas before it was primarily Canadian people reading. A larger audience also meant that I received my first little bit of anonymous criticism--another blogger described a blog post from last year as "pure blasphemy" and indicated that I would surely be punished. It was a small blip, however, and still good to know that people were reading!
   It's been a pretty good year and I intend to keep writing as much as I possibly can, regardless of who and how many might be stopping by from time to time.
   If you are a faithful reader, I thank you greatly! Some of you are new and some of you have been visiting since the beginning. Here's hoping we can get together many more times in the future!
   Cheers!

Do you want to save a life?: Part Two

   Almost a full year ago, I wrote a blog post titled "Do you want to save a life?" You can read this post here. In it, I espouse the virtues of both organ and blood donation.
   By way of example, I spoke about two people in my life who were, at that time, dealing with health issues in which blood and organ donation either already were playing vital roles or had the potential for doing so.

Gordon (as I knew him) and Gordon (as I CONTINUE to know him!)

   One of them was a gentleman and high school compatriot named Gordon Kirkland. Gordon lives in B.C. and his liver was failing at this time last year. His only viable hope for survival rested on the very slim chance that someone, somewhere near to him, had made the decision to donate their organs upon their passing. And then they had to die. Complicating this somewhat was the fact that they needed to be fairly close to Gordon's size (he's a big man) and the blood types needed to match (Gordon has one of the rarer blood types).
   Gordon spent most of last year slowly deteriorating. He is a well-known and respected humourist, though, and did his best to demonstrate this at the same time as his body continued to both sustain and betray him.
   Over the latter part of the year, you could sense the resignation in his writings. He talked about how close death was.
   Then he got lucky. Or he received a blessing. Maybe a little of both but the fact of the matter is that he became the recipient of a new liver just a little over two months ago! By both his and his doctors' admission, he was likely only about three days away from death when he received his transplant. He is doing very well now and has returned to that ebullient Gordon we all know and love. At the same time, he is humble in his thankfulness and extremely aware that someone else had to die in order for him to continue on living.
   Putting it simply, you can save a life by registering as an organ donor. This just happened to someone I know. Not only that, the act of registering can either save or greatly positively impact the lives of several people, all at the same time. It's a no-brainer, no pun intended!

   The other person I spoke about in that post was my ex-wife, Lori Hicks. Lori was in the middle of a battle against multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. The treatment for this involves different forms of chemotherapy and blood transfusions. Hence the need for blood donations. Donated blood is also used in the battle against anemia, sickle cell disease and hemophilia. Of course it is also used in cases involving accidents, where there may be great blood loss.

   Lori,
   and my two boys,
   Bryant and Ben

   Sadly, Lori ultimately lost her battle, passing away in early December. No amount of blood donation would have ultimately saved her. Blood donations, however, were a vital part of the treatment process which helped keep her alive for the five years she was still with us after her cancer diagnosis. This was five years of a life lived with dignity and grace and, as importantly, a life surrounded by the love of family and friends. Blood donations were a part of what helped make this possible for her and they continue to help many others. For the length of time it takes--about forty-five minutes every two months--blood donations are also a no-brainer.
   I am once again posting some  links that will get you somewhere where you can learn more about the organ and blood donation process and how to get involved in both.

 http://organ-donation-works.org/english/home/
https://beadonor.ca/
http://www.blood.ca/

  
   Now all you need to do is....DO IT!!!
  
    

Important Stuff You Need To Know

   The following contains information of vital importance. Please make sure this information reaches as many people as possible.

 

 

 

 

   Thank you for your attention to this matter.