Monday, November 26, 2012

The Gift

We in the states just celebrated Thanksgiving, a time of  reflection on the things we are grateful for and with the approaching holiday it is a time that signifies hope. 
I, Sweet William The Scot, went to my post office box and found I had gotten an envelope from Wally & Sammy & Ella all the way from South Africa by way of Sweden.  My this envelope was racking up the milage.
 Inside I found the 2012 Sunflower Fund Bandana. The tag says Thank you for being prepared to "SHARE A LITTLE, to SAVE A LIFE".  Become a bone marrow stem cell donor.  South Africa has eleven official languages and the word HOPE is written in those languages on the bandana.  They raise money through this bandana to give hope to those needing a bone marrow transplant.
 In the United States  we have The National Marrow Donor Program a nonprofit organization founded 1986. 
 The Match registry is one of many registries of unrelated donors and cord blood units in the world. Most large, developed nations have such registries. Large registries of unrelated donors are needed because only about 30% of patients with diseases treatable with hematopoietic cell transplantation can find a suitable  donor among their family members.
The remaining 70% require an unrelated hematopoietic cell donor as a transplant source. Because the odds that two random individuals are HLA matched exceeds 1 in 20,000, a registry's success depends on a large number of volunteer donors.  Those donors give us HOPE.
They sent me the bandana because their Grampy and my Lee have the same health issue, their marrow produces large amounts of an abnormal protein. WM is  rare about 1,500 new cases occur annually in the United States.  My Lee if she needed a bone marrow transplant has no family at all and she would have to rely on the registry totally.

 
Two bloggers one in Johannesburg and one in Cincinnati found out they were connected by a rare disorder and the one in Johannesburg sent us a bandana of HOPE.
 
Thank you Sammy & Wally & Ella for The Gift
 
They also sent me a fridge Magnet that says South Africa.
Hope ~ English
iThemba ~ Zulu
Hoop ~ Afrikaans
Holofela ~ Sepedi
Fhulufhelo ~ Venda
Tshepo ~ Setswana & Sesotho
HOPE
 
Signing Off
Sweet William The Scot
 


26 comments :

  1. Aren't we just blessed to have friends and family that love and care for us.
    Happy Holidays
    Stella Rose

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  2. We Beaglebratz thinkz that iz sum cool doozie stuff. Not the medical problem itself butt that their Grampy an'your Lee found that connecshun an'they sent u that neeto-sweeto bandana that sez so much - even tho it iz just one werd.
    Shiloh'n The Diva Shasta

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  3. So glad to hear that story, and someone out there is a match. One happening like this makes up for the other clowns with rude comments. See, most od us bloggers do have a good heart. It's to bad the reat of the people around the world can't all act this way. It made Mom smile big time!!!!

    Thtas for our Bestest Buddy & Lee
    Susie, Sidebite, Shadow, Mom & Dad

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  4. That is so awesome to receive such a cool gift from so far away
    Benny & Lily

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  5. What a connection! Wally & Sammy are the bestest mates to have! I sure hope you smiling, love your bandana!

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  6. I went to the Post Office the other day. I always check the wall to see if they're on to me yet.

    Why have all those official languages when one will do-Scottie. The word AROOO means a lot of things which makes Scottie very economical indeed.

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    Replies
    1. We can't agree more Kyla and we are working on it - we've sent our president like 87 000 requests to have Scottie added to the list of official languages but we suspect that he is too busy overseeing his 87 billion Rand compound to worry about our request or the general state of our country.

      Wally & Sammy

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  7. You can wear that bandana with pride! And we agree with Kyla Aarrooo says it all.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  8. What a great gift and it will always have such special meaning to you

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  9. Oh, that is a great gift Sweet William!! That is such an amazingly sweet gesture to send you a great bandana like that.
    I will be hoping that Lee will never be in need of the registry, I'll keep my good thoughts comin' your way!

    Kisses,
    Ruby

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  10. The world is a very small place, isn't it. I am so glad you found each other. This was a lovely story and lifted my assistant's spirits after a long and stressful day. Thank you!

    Your pal, Pip

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  11. What a lovely post Sweet William & Lee - mom read it to us while we ate our breakfast this morning. We are so glad you liked it and we just love the last picture with which also includes our Christmas card to you :-)

    We're glad we sent the white bandana, it really suits you very well Sweet William - very dapper!

    Have a grrrrreat day you two!

    Licks & love,
    Wally & Sammy & mom

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  12. Very nice gift!! Lookin good in that bandana too
    Cotton

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  13. How kind of them and we are so pleased you found each other Sweet William. That is a lovely story. Hope your friendship grows. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  14. You look so handsome in your bandana, sweet William! What a lovely gift!

    Love ya lots,
    Mitch and Molly

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  15. William what a wonderful and heartfelt post....so many people have no idea about being donors of any kind. Give Lee a hug for us and tell her to hug you back!!
    PS you are looking very handsome too.
    Madi your BFFF

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  16. Sweet William!! We got your Christmas card in the mail today, thank you so much! We love it! It will go on the door by Riley's crate with the rest of the cards. :)

    Elyse and Riley

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  17. Wow what a great gift. Thanks for sharing this information. We got your card & it's pawsome!

    Nubbin wiggles,
    Oskar

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  18. We got your Christmas card/calendar in the mail today, sweet William! How useful this is! You are so very thoughtful. Thank you so much!

    Love ya lots,
    Mitch and Molly

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  19. What a terrific gift Wally and Sammy sent you! Thank you for sharing this information, we had no idea.

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  20. You look seriously handsome in your bandana, Sweet William!

    ~Love, the SugarHighK9s

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  21. Hey Sweet William!
    Wow, what a wonderful gift and it's so full of meaning! Our furiends from around the world makes Blogville an amazing community. BTW: I got your great card today! Thanks so much, my good furiend.
    Grr and Woof,
    Sarge, COP

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  22. Sweet William, that is a really nice post and thank you. Mommy firmly believes in this as well. I love your bandana, mail pressies are the best. My Daddy got a kidney transplant 2 years ago and is doing great now. It is amazing to get a gift like that. I hope Lee never needs a transplant, but I cross paws that if she does, there will be a donor.

    Loveys Sasha

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  23. Wow! Wasn't that a super special package! How wonderful :D

    Waggin at ya,
    Roo

    PeeS: I sent ya somethin to your sweetw yahoo email. If you didn't get it, could you send me a different email and I'll resend it there - my email is 1roodog(at)gmail(dot)com

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