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This story happened to me while I was stationed in Hawaii with the Navy in 1983. One of the members of the Command received word that his father needed to have major surgery. Because the operation would require a large amount of blood for transfusions, the family was trying to find 32 people willing to donate blood. The word was put out at our Command of approximately 150 people and a number of us volunteered. We were told to report to the where the donations were to be made on the following Saturday.

That morning, my wife and I needed to go to Barber's Point to the building our Square Dance Club used to help get it ready for a special dance. Because the blood donor center was on the way we decided to stop for the 30 minutes or so it would take to have the blood drawn. Without any more discussion, I pulled into the parking lot and parked. As my wife, 2 daughters, and I got out of the car to go into the building our youngest daughter asked why we had stopped at this building. She was 8 at the time and knew this wasn't where we square danced. My wife told her that we had stopped so daddy could give some of his blood to help another person. Our daughter, stopped dead in her tracks, grabbed her stomach with both hands, and started crying. "I don't want my daddy to give blood," she sobbed. When we asked why she was cried harder. Finally we got her calmed down to where she could talk to us. In her young mind, she thought that if I was going to give blood, they would take all of the blood in my body, and I would be dead. It took about 15 minutes for us to convince her that they were only going to take a little of my blood and that I would be okay.

Finally, we were able to get out of the parking lot and start into the building. When we reached the front door, I gave the receptionist my name and was told it would be a couple of minutes before they would be ready for me. While we waited, the receptionist asked if my wife would like to donate a pint of her blood. With a totally shocked expression on her face, our daughter grabbed her mother and began sobbing and saying no. We finally got her calmed down again and my wife told her she wouldn't be donating any blood that day. Not being a mind reader, although I didn't have to be in this situation, I figured that while our daughter believed that they could take a little of my blood and that I would be okay, she wasn't taking any chances by letting both of us give blood.

Seeing what was going on, the receptionist asked my 2

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