American Red Cross rejected me, and I cried.
5/14/20251 min read


American Red Cross rejected me, and I cried.
Last month I decided to join my husband and sign up to donate blood.
He’s done it regularly for years, and I was always ‘too busy’ to fill out the paperwork.
I was happy that I felt healthy and strong, and finally ready to give back.
But when I got to the donation center, I was pulled aside, and handed a note—I am permanently ineligible to donate—because of a rare form of lymphoma I had 20 years ago.
I didn’t expect the rejection to hit me so hard.
I cried in the car.
Not out of anger. Not even sadness. Just… a wave of realization.
That something I thought was behind me, is still with me.
When I was diagnosed with Marginal Zone B-Cell Lymphoma 20 years ago, that chapter made me much more intentional about designing my life, and reflecting more on what truly matters.
I thought I had learned my lessons. I thought I'd moved on.
But this quiet rejection was a harsh reminder: some things don’t ever fully leave us. Even when we’ve healed.
Instead of trying so hard to move on from things, maybe it’s really about learning to move with.
I can’t ‘move on’ like it never happened. But I can move forward—acknowledging the impact it had on me… without letting it define me.
I now resonate even more with what I often advise others:
Growth isn’t always about leaving the past behind. Sometimes, it’s about making peace with what stays.
💭 What’s a part of your story you’ve tried to leave behind—but still shapes who you are?