For Julie

Well I finally did it.

I have had a couple of things I wanted to do for years now and I've finally done them, both of them to honor of my wonderful friend, Julie Phillips.  I am confident that God blessed me with her because He knew I needed someone like her in my life.  I was not and am not the quickest to make close friends, but we became sidekicks right away.  There was nothing not to like about her.  She was funny, carefree, imaginative, and knew how to have fun.  At the age of only 14, she went to be with our Maker after a hard fight with leukemia.  I still miss her friendship.  I think about her a lot.  God taught me a lot about life through her and I am grateful for the time He blessed me with.  

Watching her fight with leukemia, I remember always feeling helpless.  Two times in particular I remember being mad that I couldn't do something to help.  One was when she lost all her hair from her chemo treatments.  It made me so mad that I had just cut off lots of my hair and if I hadn't done that she could have used it (which she couldn't have, but in my 11-12 year old mind it would have been simple).  The other was when they were looking for a bone marrow donor.  A big donor search was done and I was too young to be tested.  I remember thinking that I was plenty old enough to decide if I wanted to give her my bone marrow (again, at that age I didn't even know what that meant, but it didn't matter).  

So, back to my original statement... I finally did it.  I'm on the National Marrow Donor List and I've finally donated my hair to Locks of Love.  I wanted to post about it because I wanted to encourage some of you to do the same.  I realize the Locks of Love is not for everyone... it took me over 2 years to finish that goal.  BUT, registering with the Donor List IS for almost everyone.  It is SO easy and every person counts when it is someone you love in need of a donor.  So take a few minutes and visit www.marrow.org.  You don't even have to go to a blood center, everything is done online and through the mail.  They send you a packet and all you have to do is swab the inside of your cheek a few times and mail it back.  It seems like very little effort for something that could potentially save a life.  Please comment and let me know if you decide to register.  I would love to know!

Me with my Locks of Love ponytail.

My last picture with all my hair... a tribute to Cousin It!  :)