I wore this sticker proudly for the rest of the day.

I donated blood for the first time on Monday. I don’t know why I’ve been so chicken about it all these years. When I was in high school, I helped organize the blood drive one year and talked it up to a lot of people. I had the easy excuse of not being eligible to donate because I didn’t meet the minimum age requirement then, in later years, of not meeting the minimum weight requirement (my you-look-like-you’re-anorexic days). I always felt that when I was eligible, I’d totally donate. Yeah. Didn’t happen.

Well, I finally sucked it up. I need to thank my friends and family who encouraged me to do it. It was a great experience, and I feel good knowing that I might be able to save a life.

If you are eligible to donate blood, do it! If I can do it, anyone can… unless you have low iron levels or can’t stomach the sight of your blood running through tubes for 10 minutes.

Chicago peeps who are interested in donating, visit http://www.lifesource.org. Do you have a blood donation story? Share it in the comments. Or don’t. Whatever.