On Valentine's Day, a card came for me in the mail from Minnesota, hand-addressed. I was a bit worried that I had made the wrong impression with one of my faculty, but upon opening it I discovered that instead of a secret admirer I was being notified by the National Marrow Donor Program that I was a marrow match for a person with leukemia.

Let's just say that that brought me up short.

Hambone and I talked about it for a while. What to do? The card said that I should call a number right away and tell them if I was still interested. A rep had personally written in the card to tell me her extension and to explain that I was a match.

So we did a little looking on the web, trying to find out more. The last time I heard about marrow donation, it involved excruciating pain. I think they used an augur, pliers, and an ice-cream scoop or something. I wasn't really thrilled at that prospect.

Turns out now, though, that it's a better deal. You get an epidural or a spinal, and then they stick a needle in your hip bone and extract marrow that way. Coupla weeks of being sore, and you're back to normal.

So I called and told them I was interested. I answered a coupla questions, and the person on the phone told me that I was going to be contacted in a week or so.

Interestingly, these people had me on file from the time in 1992 when I opted into the program. I was a college kid in 1992, with the most transient lifestyle. My folks still lived in Birmingham! They must have done a lot of digging to find me.

Anyway, more info as I get it myself. Exciting!