TheBanyanTree: Two Minutes For A Life

[Pam North]

Once upon a time, a precious baby girl was born to two parents, aunts,
uncles, grandparents and friends.  She was expectantly awaited, and her
birth - on her own mom's birthday no less! - was proudly celebrated!

But, while this brand new baby was loved and wanted, the truth of the matter
was, she wasn't very cute... sorry!  But it is the truth.  And in fact,
nobody even realized it at first.  She was tiny and 'perfect' with all her
fingers and toes, and she was cuddled and swaddled.  Unfortunately, what the
naked eye couldn't see, the camera could.  The first photo taken of her at
the hospital was so un-good, her parents didn't even buy them!  Within a
couple of weeks though, her mom dressed her in pink and booties and a
headband, and took the baby to a photographer for a second try.

Those photos, while purchased, framed, displayed, and saved for prosperity,
also showed the truth!!  That child scolded and looked mean and nasty.
Definitely not attractive.

And then, within a few more weeks of her life, the child underwent a
swan-like transformation, and forever after, in any picture ever taken of
her, she was beautiful and smiling and photogenic!

But while she mellowed and cooed and gurgled and smiled and pinkened up and
looked more like herself, the little baby girl just refused to grow
hair!  She was bald... bald like the proverbial cue-ball!  Like a
little girl with her own baby doll, this little girl's mom spent hours
finding the *cutest* little outfits... all the frills and bows and PINK
becoming to a precious first baby girl with the most beautiful smile in the
world.

Alas though, no matter HOW MUCH PINK her mother dressed her in, strangers
would always stop them and comment on what a beautiful little baby BOY she
was!!  Pink dresses, pink booties, pink bows in her hair.... it didn't
matter.  Since she was bald, it was *obvious* to the most casual observer
that she must be a boy.

Finally, at a mall one day with her baby and her own mother, this new mom
stopped at the first place she came to that could, and she had her baby's
ears pierced!  It was something that might have been considered for the
child a little later in her life, but the mom's desperation overrode any
hesitation, and she the child's ears pierced on the spot!

The jewelry store where she had it done was situated on a corner in the
mall, and it allowed for others passing by to stop and watch over the
counter.  When the attendant pulled the little 'trigger' shooting the first
earring stud into her ear, the little baby girl - about six months old by
this time - let out a yell and started to cry.  This of course caused others
passing to stop and watch, and quite a little crowd formed before the second
stud could be inserted.

And it was then that the baby girl turned her head, saw she was the center
of attention, and immediately stopped crying!  She started smiling and
cooing at her audience, and she never even flinched when the second ear was
done!

And the mom happily paid up, *sure* that she had now accomplished what every
piece of pink finery in the world could not!  NOW they would coo at her baby
GIRL!!!!

Now, whilst you, the reader might think that this is a story about a little
girl and her ears, it's not!  Actually, it is a story about a little girl
whose mom had her ears pierced before she could know what was happening, and
have to choose to do it herself!!  And yes, let's note here...  a couple of
months after that ear-piercing incident, that baby girl's parents took her
to a baseball game with a Red Sox hat on her head.  And, walking away, a
little boy was overheard commenting to his father, "Daddy!  That little boy
has his ears pierced!!"

And so the little girl grew up.  FINALLY, to her parent's relief, when she
was around two, she decided to grow some hair!  And her mom kept it growing
LONG!  Pigtails, ponytails... all kinds of tails... just so the hair was
long!!  In years, this little girl grew into a beautiful young woman.  A
young woman with pierced ears and long, thick wavy hair!

When that young woman was sixteen, she decided she wanted to have a second
hole pierced in her ears.  She thought long and hard about it, wavering once
or twice, and then finally deciding to go for it!  you see, this young woman
was afraid of the needle piercing her ears.  She was *very* skeered!

And so, at a mall out of town, on a school band trip (with the same mom in
tow), that young woman convinced her mom to sign parental consent, and they
went in search of the jewelry store that would do it.

Did I mention that she was worried??  Afraid??  She was working herself up
into a dither, moaning about the pain, concern about the needle, fear of the
pain.  When the young attendant there pulled out her pen to make markings on
the lobes where the studs should go, the young woman flinched and jumped and
whimpered!  She was shown how un-threatening the ink pen really was, and she
relaxed again for a second.

And then... BAM!  The trigger was snapped, and she had a stud in one ear!
Relief was clear all over her face.  That hadn't hurt at all!  Just a pinch
for a millisecond, and it was over!  It must be noted that at this point,
the mom was loosing patience!  The child, for she *had* reverted back to
child status, was frustrating her to no end!!  It was the *child's* idea,
*she* had requested it, and yet, she'd moaned and groaned since walking into
the store!  The mom was ready to just turn and walk out!

While the girl was admiring her first stud in the mirror, she asked her mom
for some water.  The mom, ready to just get the heck out of there!, told the
girl to hurry up and get the second ear done, and then they'd go find
water!  At which point the child asked a second time, and then slumped
quietly into her mom's arms as she passed out!

That's right!  The child had passed out *after* finding out the pain was
negligible... that her fears had been for naught!  And now the mom wasn't
frustrated!  She was fearful herself!  The child, sitting atop a stool,
that she clutched to her bosom, was white and unconscious!  And whimpering!
The mom worked hard to make her voice gentle, and called the child's name
over and over.  Though it seemed like hours, within several seconds the
child had 'come to'!  Mom watched as the color returned to her cheeks.

And then the mom informed her child that she was going *that* second to find
water, ensured her child had a grip on the stool, informed the attendant
that she was in charge, and then raced around the corner to a cookie store,
barged to the front asking for water and paper towels, and raced back to the
store.

To find that same child laid out on the floor with a stranger (a shopping
EMT'er no less!), bending over her, checking her for injuries!!  This child
had fainted a second time, and the incompetent attendant had just allowed
her to slide off the stool, onto the floor!

So while the child stayed on the floor, the EMT'er asked questions to
determine her health, and the mom wet the towels and mopped her little
girl's brow to cool her off, and stave off the guilt for not having gotten
water when first requested.  Then, while sitting on the floor, the child had
her second ear pierced a second time.  She braced herself for the 'BAM'
*knowing* it would only feel like a pinch, and then was dismayed to find the
trigger-tool had jammed, and the piercing hadn't gone through.  And so it
was done *again*!

With time, the memory of the trauma lessened, and eventually, was all but
forgotten.  Oh, it made a great story, but over time, it wasn't even a story
often remembered.  Though when the child ever even considered getting a body
part pierced, her mom *emphatically* allowed her to know that she was going
to have to take a different adult with her to do it!  No more trauma for
*this* mom!!

And another year went by.  The day after Thanksgiving found that same young
lady and her mom out shopping.  Not necessarily as part of the 'Black
Friday' Christmas rush, but in an effort to find new jeans for the same
young lady, and her younger brother back at home.

After a few hours, they turned to exit the mall (a different one this time)
and go in search of food, and noticed the signs for a Blood Drive being held
by the local Red Cross.  Now the mom, who had at one time given blood at
every available opportunity, had found few of those same opportunities in
the previous few years, and was anxious to drop in and give while the chance
was right in front of her!

And the daughter, who had only recently turned seventeen - the legal age to
donate - said that she'd been planning on doing it as well at her next
chance.  Great!  So the two turned into the
clothing-store-gone-out-of-business-now-the-place-for-a-Blood-Drive and got
in line.  The two of them got their 'info' sheets, and sat and read about
all the important stuff they needed to be aware of if they intended to give
blood.  There was info on countries visited, and whom they may have had sex
with.  Since the mom hadn't had much of ANY sex in years, she only skimmed
these tidbits, and advised her daughter, whom she was pretty darned
confident had never had ANY sex, that she could probably not worry about
those things either!

The mom, who tried to be good and conscientious, explained to her daughter
how she'd be taken to a small cubicle and have her vitals taken, where
they'd ask a bunch more questions, and then prick her finger to get a
sampling of her blood to test for iron levels.  And she explained how if the
blood didn't sink fast enough, they'd have to get more and run a second test
where they 'spun' the blood.  (Note here, the child's blood was fine!  The
*mom's* blood had to be spun!)

Meanwhile, the mom is yippering away, noticing all the advanced
technological changes since she'd last donated.  By her SSN, she was already
in the system, and known under *all* her last names!  In a separate cubicle,
she had the nurses checking the status on her child, and making arrangements
for them to be placed in the same 'square' for donating.

But all this time, the mom didn't realize that this same daughter, who
*volunteered* to give away blood, was stressing the donation and all the
pain involved.  There would, of course, be a needle involved, and the child
didn't much care for them.

Before the nurses had even gotten the child's arm ready to be pierced, the
mom was holding her arm up, having already completed her 'one pint'
donation.  And so she sat close by, talking to her child, assuring her over
AND OVER that the finger prick was the worst part, that she'd only feel a
'sting', that it was nothing, and she shouldn't worry!  As meanwhile, old
memories came home to roost!

While her arm was stretched out and sanitized, the child kept looking around
with fear in her eyes.  She was determined to do this, and just as sure that
it would feel like her arm was being amputated!  Finally, she looked to her
mom, and felt the sting of the needle going in.  And it was obvious that she
had finally felt - firsthand! - what everybody standing around had already
been assuring her... it *was* just a sting, and it was done!  Now all she
had to do was lay still and squeeze the little ball every few seconds while
her blood pumped out!

By the clocks they had timed her with, the mom had donated her pint in six
minutes.  And she jokingly told her daughter to 'beat that'!  In six
minutes, the daughter had tied her!  At this point, the mom explained to her
little girl that now there was no more blood leaving her arm.. now they did
really cool stuff to clamp off the tubing and fill small vials for further
testing.  This was interesting and maybe she could watch it.  The daughter
didn't watch.

She was too busy talking about how tired she was and how dizzy she felt.
Then the child's head was lowered, her feet were raised, and a volunteer
started fanning her with a piece of cardboard.  The needle was removed, the
mom returned with a soda and a straw, and the daughter was asked to hold her
arm up straight and compress the gauze covering her inner-elbow where the
needle was removed.  This young lady couldn't hold her other arm up to press
down, so the mom handed off the soda and held it for her.

And calmly watched all the color leave her daughter's face as she passed out
AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right.  This young lady waits until *after* the 'trauma' is over, and
then faints!  She wasn't very pleased about the 'smelling salts' placed
under her nose to bring her around, and was just as unenthusiastic about the
requests that she keep her eyes open since she wanted to go to sleep!

An ice pack was placed under her neck, she was fanned, and her mom held her
arm up to staunch any blood that might want to flow.  Gradually, the child
came around fully.  Slowly, her head was raised, her feet were lowered,
color returned to her cheeks, and she was allowed more soda.

It was at this point, that a sweet volunteer came over to check on her, and
thank her again for donating.  It was explained to her that the three bags
attached to 'the wad' of plastic was for dividing up her blood!  THREE
different people would benefit from her donation!  She turned to her mom and
said, "I feel like such a looser!"

Her mom was shocked!  "No sweetie!  You're a *winner*!  You donated your
blood!  You're a WIMPY winner, but you're *not* a looser!"

When *finally* she was able to be led to the snack area, she downed more
soda and a snack cake.  When she saw another band mate standing outside
thinking about donating, she yelled dares to him in an attempt to temp him
in.  (It was at this point that the mom went over and bullied him into it!)
It was never mentioned that the young lady had passed out donating her
blood.

In six minutes.  For three separate lives.

That's one live every two minutes....



Pam (Proud Mom!)