Donate A Pint For Joe

I Am Asking You To Do a Favor For Me

Friends of the blog. I never ask you for money and if I have it my way this blog will always be free of charge.  I am not a journalist looking to make a career.  This blog has transitioned from educating people about the ills of government action in finance to my opinions to talking about startups, and now to anything I feel like writing about.  I appreciate everyone that reads it, and I especially appreciate the comments when people comment.  When you read this, please share it however you feel comfortable sharing it.  Then, take action.

Today, I am asking you for a favor.  Not for me, but for my friend Joe.  I need to tell you about my friend Joe.

Joe and I met because our kids were swimmers. Joe was a swimmer and so was his wife Dari.  I find that when swimmers have kids, they become swimmers.  They spend hours in the pool looking at that black line. I was not a swimmer but both of my daughters swam, one in high school.  At swim meets, we would sit in the bleachers and pass the time between 40 seconds to 5-minute races and chat.  We got to know each other and Joe and I became friends.  We laughed and told stories and jokes.  We agreed on lots of things except the White Sox and Cubs. Joe was a passionate Sox fan.

He told me he was kind of rough around the edges in high school.  He went to Catholic school and my guess is the priests and nuns had free rein on his knuckles, a lot.  When he graduated, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps.  The Corps straightened him out.  It also allowed him to see the world.  He loved Italy and since he is part Italian, it stuck with him.  Along the way in his USMC life, he was stationed at Camp LeJeune.  I am sure you have heard the advertisements about the bad water at Camp LeJeune, but if you haven’t here is a link. Joe was an innocent kid.  He was thirsty and he needed a drink.  He didn’t know the water at the camp was contaminated with heavy metals that would cause him a lot of problems years later in life.

Joe married his sweetheart Dari and they had three girls.  All of them swam in college.   They all are leading successful lives now. One is a veterinarian. One is a marketer for a soft drink company.  One is an attorney.  Two of his girls live near him in Chicago and one is in Los Angeles.  One of his daughters got married and he was able to walk her down the aisle.  Having done this a couple of times I know what that means to fathers but after you read the rest of this, you will know it was especially meaningful to Joe.  We remained friends but we didn’t see each other as much after our kids graduated high school and I moved to Las Vegas.  That happens.  

After the Marines, Joe became a Chicago Police officer.  He worked his way up and became a Lieutenant.  He was the first commander ever of the bike squadron you see patrolling the lakefront and streets.  He finished as one of the top cops in the Loop.  While he was working, he got undergraduate and graduate degrees from Northeastern.  Then, he went to law school and passed the bar.  He retired from the police force and became an attorney representing police officers.  It was a great fit for him. He could help them since he understood the job so well.  He could also be honest and straight with them about whatever situation they found themselves in that caused them to need an attorney.  Life was good!  

Then, I heard Joe was having health problems.  Camp LeJeune was coming back to “visit” him.  Because of the water, he got kidney disease and blood cancer at the same time.  He went on dialysis.  He waited for a kidney match.  One never came.  Finally, his sister turned out to be a match and she donated her kidney to keep him alive.  Life was good again, but it had its challenges.  

Joe and Dari traveled like crazy.  They’d go hiking in the mountains.  In March, they came out to visit us in Las Vegas and they hiked all over the place here.  

Then this past May, the blood cancer that was low-grade in Joe’s system decided to rear its ugly head and take over his life.  Joe had to do intense chemotherapy.  Anyone who knows anything about chemo knows it zaps you.  Joe is enduring it.  His daughter Melissa asked him if there was anything people could do for him.  Joe being Joe, he didn’t ask for anything for himself. His whole life has been about being a servant to others.  He said, “Give blood”.  

You see, Joe needs a lot of blood transfusions to endure this chemo.  

So, the favor I am asking is for you to go to your local blood donation center and give a pint for Joe.  Send me a photo of you doing it. I will send them to his daughter Melissa who will send them to Joe.  This is her idea and it’s a good one so let’s work together to make it happen. It will make him happy and lift his spirits.  He is almost 2/3rds of the way through his chemo.  Knowing him, he doesn’t need a lot of motivation but we want to shower him with photos anyway.  It will make him happy.  

Plus, no matter where you are, if you give, you know you are helping your own community.  Even if you aren’t in Chicago, donate.  I am going to donate today in Las Vegas. I made my appointment online and you can too.  Tell them you are doing it for Joe.  Here is a photo of his daughter Melissa giving in Los Angeles.  By the way, she’s still single and she’d be quite a catch, so if you are in your early 30s….... You’d also get to meet Joe and his wife.  You’d be lucky.  

UPDATE: I put my money where my writing was today. Driving from Las Vegas to Grand Marais, MN starting tomorrow. My dog and I. Wife has some important family business to take care of. She will fly up later….