For Shannon, donating is a family affair

My parents were blood donors in Canada in the early 1980s. It was a night out for my dad and me when it was his turn to donate blood; in fact, one of my first memories is of sitting on the end of an old vinyl-slat lawn chair in a church basement in Canada, eating sugar cookies and watching the clock with dad to see how fast he would fill his blood bag. By the time we had a party to celebrate Dad's 100th donation, my siblings and I were all donating blood regularly as part of what is now one of our family's only traditions. When I go home to visit, we compare our donation numbers, blood pressure, and iron counts in what is otherwise a very ordinary family get-together. None of us has ever needed blood and I have no idea why Mom and Dad started donating. It's just what we do. (Except I've moved on to plasma.)