Philadelphia couple celebrates 25th anniversary by donating blood
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- They were supposed to be in Europe. Instead, a Center City couple marked their 25th anniversary in a unique way: a trip to the Jefferson Blood Donor Center.
Mary Anne Casey and Rick DeOliveira sat in side-by-side beds, all dressed up, sipping ginger ale.
"This is a bad time for a lot of us. Let's see what we can do to make it a little less sad," said DeOliveira.
So they decided to 'be positive.'
B+ is Casey's blood type but also their way of life.
For the occasion, Casey, who is a graphic designer, created masks emblazoned with the motto.
She explained, "That's how we want to live our lives. We literally are always kind of pointing positive. We say that to each other a lot, and our friends, too. It's a thing with us. So this 'be positive' plays off of that and is inspired by that, too."
After the global pandemic quashed their vacation to Europe, they came up with this idea.
"We really try to think about what we want to do as opposed to what we can't do," DeOliveira continued.
They also enlisted a group of friends to donate blood in celebration of their silver anniversary.
"They decided to be positive about it, and make something good happen," said their friend, Andrew Ross of Old City.
Friend Michael Wightman of Rittenhouse Square added, "I think it's generous. I think they inspire the rest of us to be generous. My hope is that other people can see this and say you know, 'We ain't doing nothing else, why don't we go down and give blood at the blood bank.'"
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