Yesterday was Debutant's first re-birthday; it was on February 27, 2006, that she received a stem cell transplant courtesy of a donation from her brother. I'm very happy to see that she's doing well. May there be many more re-birthdays (and the original kind, too) for you to celebrate, Deb.

I was reminded of this event by my friend (and regular commenter here) Patrick, who unfortunately also had some bad news: His cousin-in-law Kelly, who is a college student, was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Like Deb before her, she is about to become very well acquainted with MD Anderson and its employees, for at least the next six months.

Now, I've not met Kelly, and neither have you, but there's a simple thing that we can both do to help her and people like her: We can donate blood, and especially platelets. There are many fine locations around Houston for making such donations. I've been a regular customer at the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center on La Concha lately, and I'm about due for another visit. It's good for your soul, it doesn't take long, and you can stuff your face with cookies afterwards, guilt-free. What's not to like?

I will be donating blood in the month of March. I hope you will please think about joining me. Thank you very much.