July 13, 2020
23 years ago today, I received a liver transplant. The doctors told my husband I was within 48 hours of dying. If a family had not said yes to organ donation, I would not be alive. My youngest daughter was only 21 months old. I had three other children ages 12, 18 and 20. None of them were married yet. Today I have nine grandchildren and one great granddaughter. I love being alive to watch them all grow into wonderful people. I would have missed out on so much.
There are never any words to say to someone, knowing how much this means to me. I tear up every time I think of my donor and his family. What they did for me is unmeasurable. I think of them and pray for them everyday. The gift of life is wonderful and I encourage everyone to sign up as a donor, now while you are thinking about it, and before your family could be faced with the decision. It won’t happen to most of you, but life is very uncertain and what if you were me? Would you want someone to say yes? I got sick in mid May and my liver was destroyed in less than a month and a half. It would be a whole different story for me and my family if my donors family had said no. Life is precious. Love every minute of it!