When Allie Reimold boarded Flight 2223 in Houston a week ago, she didn’t expect to see him. It had been four years since they’d last visited in person. And eight years, almost exactly, since the budding scientist – on the darkest day of the year – had given the commercial airline pilot a gift that would link the two for life. Back then, United Airlines Capt. David Whitson had been facing a devastating diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia. Healthy blood could bring the husband and father back from the brink. But even his brother’s didn’t match closely enough. That’s when Allie, who years earlier had opted into a bone marrow registry, got the call: Would she help save a dying stranger? Since then, Allie and David had met in person. They’d linked up on social media. And in gratitude for her priceless gift, David had added Allie to his United Airlines travel benefits so she “travels like my children or my family do,” the pilot told CNN. That’s how David, who’d just piloted a flight from Dallas to Houston, got the ping: Allie was also in Houston, about to board outbound Flight 2223. But it was due to take off in 40 minutes. And David was on the other side of the airport. He reached out to the jet’s captain. And dashed to the gate. David Whitson and Allie Reimold reunited eight years after the transplant. (Courtesy David Whitson via CNN Newsource) A rare diagnosis and a desperate search David was just 44 when he went from incredibly healthy to being on a ventilator. When his cold symptoms turned into a fever, David rushed to an emergency room in August 2016. He explained to the doctor that “something was seriously wrong” because the left side of his body was in pain and a lymph node was swelling up in his neck. A CT scan and other tests revealed a grim diagnosis a few days later. Acute myeloid leukemia – a rare, fast-growing blood and bone marrow cancer originating from abnormal blood stem cells – tends to affect older adults, according to Yale Medicine. Only about 29.5% of patients are expected to live for at least five years after diagnosis. A doctor after one chemotherapy treatment told David he had a 5% chance of survival because his type of this cancer had a genetic mutation “that was really, really bad,” David recounted. “I couldn’t even walk five steps. I couldn’t move. I could barely just move my legs,” David said. “I couldn’t sit up, I couldn’t even get out of bed.” Being a usually active person, David decided to set small goals for himself, like exercising during commercials or walking to the bathroom. He tried to stay positive, relying on faith and prayers for strength. His hopes dwindled when two more rounds of chemotherapy failed to fight the illness. But if he found the right match, David’s cancerous, Type B-positive blood could be replaced. It could return him to health. And give him more years with his wife and kids. Advancements in acute myeloid leukemia treatment have significantly improved remission rates, according to the National Cancer Institute. Nowadays, most transplants use stem cells from donor blood – rather than bone marrow – in a much less complicated process, according to the Cleveland Clinic. But finding a donor match can be challenging: Only about 30% of patients have a relative who can donate; for the rest, doctors search national and international donor registries, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Donors and patients are matched based on inherited genes called human leukocyte antigens, which carry the code for markers that the body uses to know which cells belong. Donors and recipients can have incompatible blood types, and it isn’t a factor in the match. Siblings are often the best matches because they have the same biological parents. But David’s brother wasn’t an ideal match. So, his doctors tried the registries. A stranger answers the call Allie got the call. Four years earlier, as an 18-year-old behavioral sciences undergrad, she had helped organize the Purdue University Dance Marathon to raise money for an Indiana children’s hospital. During the 16-hour event, she’d swabbed her cheek to join the National Marrow Donor Program, a global nonprofit facilitating bone marrow and stem cell transplants for patients with life-threatening blood cancers. Some 18,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with a life-threatening illness – including leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell disease and more than 70 others – that could be treated with a marrow or blood cell transplant, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. But some patients, the federal agency says, will never find a match. When Allie learned her blood matched someone in need, she was excited. “I really wanted to be able to help someone in this type of way,” she told CNN, “and I think that’s also because of my interest in public health and my interest in medicine.” Still, she didn’t have a lot of details about the person she was donating to. In the US, stem cell recipients typically have to wait at least a year before they can meet their donors, according to the National Marrow Donor Program. Allie soon went to the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center in Houston, where for eight hours she donated peripheral blood stem cells through apheresis, a nonsurgical procedure that removes components from a donor’s blood and then returns what remains to their body, according to the National Cancer Institute. “You’re a little sore, you’re a little tired, but you get to go home that night, and it’s really, really rewarding,” she recalled. On December 21, 2016 – when the winter solstice blanketed Texas with more than 14 hours of darkness – doctors at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas injected Allie’s bone marrow stem cells into David’s arm, he said. “Stem cells are like seeds, and they went into my bone and planted, and they grew her blood,” he told CNN. The treatment was successful, David said, changing his Type B-positive blood to Type O-negative. Still, David didn’t know who’d given him this life-saving gift. David Whitson, a United Airlines pilot, received a rare diagnosis in August 2016 and had only one hope for survival. (Courtesy David Whitson via CNN Newsource) ‘It’s the least that I could do’ Over the next 18 months, David got better and better, until he was strong enough to return to work as a United Airlines pilot. Allie, meanwhile, kept up her studies, focusing more and more on how to help people make healthy choices to prevent chronic diseases like cancer. The two eventually were introduced to each other by the donor program in March 2018. And in August 2018, David and Allie finally met in person for the first time at an event hosted by Baylor Medical Center. After an onstage Q&A session for patients and staff, Allie and her parents and David and his family went out to lunch. David still gets emotional about it. “It’s still overwhelming to me that a stranger would take the time to save my life,” he said. “It just gave me hope.” “My blood is identical to Allie’s now,” David said. The pair would catch up every year on the anniversary of David’s transplant, said Allie, who donated peripheral blood stem cells again in 2018 to a different recipient and has encouraged others to consider joining the bone marrow registry. Beyond that, as a small token of his thanks, David shared his travel benefits with Allie. “It’s the least that I could do,” he explained. “She saved my life.” Owing to account notifications, David from time to time surprises Allie at an airport where they both happen to be, he said. She’s now 30, with a Ph.D. and a job as a cancer prevention public health researcher at the University of California, Davis, emphasizing the importance of preventive health care, including regular doctor visits, stress management and a healthy lifestyle, she said. “We both like to keep things light, we both like to joke around,” he said, “and we both like to be silly with each other.” For her part, Allie often thinks of David when she flies – and then usually texts or calls him, she said. “Every time I see him, he’s got a smile on his face,” she said. “He’s in such a great mood.” As Allie waited last week for her flight to depart from Houston, it had been four years since she’d seen David in person. He knew she was there, of course – and was racing toward her gate. But Allie wasn’t in a joking mood. ‘The true hero of this story’ Allie’s mom recently had a heart attack, she said. Like David before his cancer diagnosis, “she had felt healthy, she didn’t see it coming on.” And given Allie’s profession, the illness hit close to home. Boarding began, and Allie found her seat on the plane. As she waited for the aircraft’s doors to close, she heard its PA system begin to crackle. She didn’t think much of it. Then, she heard his name. At first, it surprised her. Then, she thought: “Of course, he’s doing this.’” David had made it in time. And in an announcement to everyone aboard, he shared his transplant story. Then, he walked over to the passenger who’d made it all happen. It’s “not every day you can get to hug someone that can save your life,” he said. “Allie is the true hero of this story. I am just glad to be alive.” Other passengers erupted in applause. It would be another week before the winter solstice marking the eighth anniversary of David’s transplant. But their impromptu reunion became a “really fun” highlight to Allie’s long travel day, especially given her mom’s health crisis. While Allie’s mom is doing better now, the pair are reminded to never take good health for granted. “Every year around this time I am just so grateful,” David told CNN. “I can’t believe that much time has gone by,” Allie added. “I would still to this day absolutely do it again.”

For those folks who may be finding that holiday cheer is hard to come by, there is an alternative to the cheery decking of the halls. There is an available option to celebrate a holiday and maintain a healthy dose of grumpiness.

That’s right — there is Festivus.

December 23 is Festivus, a day reserved in history for all who feel that the normal holiday traditions don’t quite fit the bill.

Festivus is a special holiday reserved for those more apt to want to embrace their inner “bah, humbug!” than their Christmas spirit. It’s a fair guess that more of us may be in that camp than ever before and the antidote, or at least an outlet that might prove cathartic, is Festivus.

Festivus harks back to sitcoms of years past. The farcical holiday was birthed on the TV show “Seinfeld” on December 18, 1997, when George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, revealed that his father (played by the late Jerry Stiller) created the day to contrast the religious and commercial aspects of the traditional December holidays.

Jerry Seinfeld, the protagonist in his namesake show — which ran on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with nine seasons and 180 episodes — takes an interest in the holiday and its peculiar rituals.

And if we’re getting really technical, Festivus may have roots dating back as early as 1966 when “Seinfeld” writer Dan O’Keefe, who introduced Festivus into the plotline, first heard his father dream up the holiday.

“Festivus for the rest of us!” is the tagline that caught like wildfire following the episode.

The holiday comes complete with a set of traditions befitting the aftermath of the pandemic, including a drab pole instead of a brightly lit tree. Perhaps most poignant, Festivus tradition also calls for a special ceremony known as the “airing of grievances,” where you get to tell the people in your life how they disappointed you. I’m sure if “Seinfeld” were still producing new episodes, it would expand the Festivus parameters to allow you to complain about the last couple of years and everything else that’s upside down in your life.

I, for one, will happily gather around a scrappy, salvaged pole and complain my head off. I feel better just thinking about all the complaining, about letting the year out in one fell swoop of verbal run-ons, all in the name of Festivus!

And then I hope I’ll feel better and be grateful my family is doing OK. I know that airing my gripes could be cathartic, but too much complaining, like too much of anything, might not be so good for me.

When it comes to celebrating Festivus, “The trick to doing so in an emotionally healthy manner is to distinguish between two types of grievances — those we can’t do anything about and those we would actually like to resolve,” said Guy Winch, a New York-based clinical psychologist who has a following as Dear Guy on TED and as the cohost of the “Dear Therapists” podcast, via email.

If your grievances are over things out of your control, such as not being able to see loved ones or catch the latest movie or dinner out, then “by all means, stand around that pole and vent,” Winch said.

But if you have some control over the grievance, yelling at a ragged pole with others listening might not be the answer. Opt instead to address the grievance with them directly, or “scream into an abyss but don’t create tension and fights that could ruin what would otherwise be a lovely (tongue-in-cheek) celebration of pettiness, misery, whininess, and victimhood,” Winch said.

Just complaining isn’t a helpful strategy, according to Tina Gilbertson, a Denver-based psychotherapist and author of “Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them.”

“Airing your grievances is only half the battle when it comes to feeling better,” Gilbertson said. “Make sure someone validates the emotions behind each grievance, or do this for yourself. … Every grievance needs a compassionate witness to be healing.”

For those wanting to get really into the letter of the Festivus law, the pole and grievances are followed by an attempt to pin down literally everyone around you. It could be cathartic to wrestle your housemates and let out some of that extra tension, so long as no one gets hurt.

Go ahead, put up your pole and air your grievances. Just maybe leave a tiny pinch of room for positivity if you can, because even George Costanza’s father smiled once in a while.

Some people love to wash their car, and for others, it’s their most hated chore. It’s a necessity for car owners, so no matter where you fall on the love-hate spectrum, you want a car wash that’s going to give your car a deep clean that lasts. Automatic car washes are at almost any gas…

  When you take your car to the car wash, there are multiple add-ons available, and one common choice is spray-on wax. It may seem like it doesn’t make a difference, but there are some important benefits. And these benefits go beyond how shiny your will car looks. What Are the Benefits of Waxing Your…

Even when you are lucky enough to start with an empty room, it can be overwhelming to design an interior that you can enjoy for years to come. Following some basic interior design principles, you can transform your space into a relaxing room you will be comfortable and happy with. Decide what your focal point will be and build out from there.  For best results, keep proportion and scale in mind as you decorate as well as these tips!

 Deciding on Your Focal Point
Do you have a magnificent bay window with an incredible view?  Is there an ornate mantle that is the reason you fell in love with your home? Or is there something you absolutely MUST HAVE in the room? Situate your furniture around your chosen focal point to create balance and equilibrium. If your room does not already have an existing focal point, create one with oversized art or add an accent point like a free-standing fireplace, they come in a variety of sizes and styles. Symmetrically balance the room evenly so that both sides mirror one another.  This will help your chosen focal point stand out all the more! Use matching accent tables to flank your sofa or use different pieces of furniture to create a copacetic visual impact, like two similar armchairs to balance a sofa.
Repetition for Rhythm
Rhythm creates a flow and helps direct the eye to the differing visual elements in your room. Just as the notes of a favorite song repeat to create the rhythm, repetition in decor will create a rhythm throughout a home. Establish visual interests with a rhythm throughout your space by placing similar colours or patterns at intervals and repeat in artwork, cushions or area rugs.

Perfect Proportion and Suitable Scaling
Who doesn’t love a large, overstuffed chair? But if your room is on the smaller size it may look out of place and make your room seem even smaller than it is. Keep proportion in perspective. Proportion is the ratio between a piece of furniture and the size of a room. Scale is the size of a piece of furniture in relation to the other pieces of furniture in the room. A super large chair will overpower an apartment of loft size sofa or loveseat and create a sense of unbalance in the room.

Have your room humming harmoniously
Creating harmony will enhance how much you will continue to love your finished. Pull the room with a subdued colour palette for a pleasing, harmonious vibe.   together for a pleasing, harmonious look with a subdued color palette. You can also use a single colour for elements that vary in size and shape. Check out our blog on Doing White on White Right! for more tips!

What is the focal point in your room?  What is your best tip to find harmony and balance through your home?