A HERO in our midst...

Many years ago, I was a prolific blood donor.  I did it for several reasons: 1. to help others survive, and, 2. for vanity's sake.  Yes, I admit it.  I wanted to get to a certain number of donations: 10 gallons.  And I did!  (See, another vainglory admission.)   But I would like to think all that "effort" was for the first reason, as my first donation was in 1966 while in the Air Force Police.

As the short story goes, one of the children of a brother was in St. Jude's Children's research hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.  He had undergone surgery in an attempt to stem the spread of his cancer.  The hospital needed to replace quite a bit of blood that was used for the child, so a bunch of us cops volunteered to be driven down to Memphis -- after a long midnight shift -- still in our combat defense fatigues (without weapons, of course), to do what we could to replenish the used-up, precious blood supply.  I'm sure some of us dozed-off on the long, 70-mile-ride from our base in the northeast corner of Arkansas; a "small" Strategic Air Command (SAC) base a stone's throw from the Missouri border.

I remember that we were treated to a fried chicken dinner in the dinning area; one of the best I ever had!

To be honest, I don't remember the outcome for the little fellow, but I hope that our donation at least helped the hospital somewhat...

Blood donors were advertised as "quiet heroes" back in those days,  I'm pretty sure they still are, and they should be...

But I'm not writing this little story for more of that vainglory, and, no, I'm not the "HERO in our midst".  I'm writing this little anecdote to point out a real hero, a lady friend of ours, who has been diagnosed with stage three cancer in various areas of her body.  This special woman is a devoted and faithful Catholic, wanting nothing more than to live and to be with her family for years to come.  She is, however, resigned to God's will, not hers.  But she also wants to give witness to some of her family members that have fallen-away from their precious faith.

She is hoping that her family members will rally round her, and come to see just how important it is to "keep the faith," and win that special crown promised after a relatively short race on this earth (paraphrasing the apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul).

This lady and my dear wife are very close, I am too, but it seems that women can have a special bond that we men can't fully understand.  I guess that's the way the good Lord made us; a little different here and there!

In conclusion, I would ask all those who may know who I'm talking about, and those "strangers" to pray for, not only this fine lady, but also for some of her immediate and extended family that they might recognize the importance of being earnest in the faith, and without that faith, we (they) will lose the race; that immortal crown...

The great St. Paul, pray for her (and us)…

And pray for our country..

Gene DeLalla