Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Be the Match

Our friend's daughter was diagnosed with leukemia last weekend. She is seven. 

In addition to the flood of emotion it brought, the news of her diagnosis reminded me that I had once vowed to join the bone marrow registry. That was probably the last time I heard about a child with leukemia. And then I forgot and didn't do it. 

But I won't forget again because I added it to my 40 by 40 list. It replaced "Take the boys to the Galapagos Islands." (Have you ever priced such a trip? It's $20k, easy. I don't like nature that much.) 

Then I went to the Be the Match site and requested the kit to join. But I'm not telling you this to pat myself on the back, I'm telling you because when I went to the site, I found out that although it usually costs money to join, right now through June 22, it's FREE

That, my friends, is a sign.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went on and registered to receive my kit today. I know marrow donation is a painful process, but it is nothing compared to the pain of losing someone who could've been saved by a donor. I think it's a great thing for people to be involved in.

KK said...

Yay! I'm so glad you signed up.

Unknown said...

I always wondered how they found matches. I'm signed up. Thanks for sharing this info!

Nikki said...

Thanks for posting this! I put it on Twitter and Facebook too.
I am sorry about your friends child, I have a 7 year old and my heart goes out to them. I hope that their miracle comes soon.

KK said...

It's so great to get such enthusiastic responses - it's one of those things most people don't think about unless tragedy hits.