The Gift of Life

My family recently received a tremendous blessing in answer to many, many prayers, so what better way to return to my blog than to share the tale?

My aunt was diagnosed a few years ago with a disease called pulmonary fibrosis, which is a scarring of the lungs that prevents the transmission of oxygen into the bloodstream. She's had to be on oxygen ever since and limit her physical activity to almost none, but even with such a lifestyle, people with this disease either need to have a lung transplant, or not live for very much longer. We were very grateful when she was finally put on the transplant list so we could have real hope that she'd be made whole again. It was a scary time for her and all of us, but we waited and waited, hoping that any minute of any day, the phone would ring.

It is a difficult thing to hope for a new organ to be donated, because we know that receiving one probably means that someone else has had a tragedy. But, as my grandmother wisely said, that person was going to die, and this way, their final act can be giving another person the gift of life. I don't know which family is out there right now missing their mother or son or granddaughter, but I wish for them that small comfort; that in a way, life continues because of their loved one.

The lovely end to our story (or at least, to this chapter) is that on Thursday morning at 3:45 a.m., our phone rang to announce that it was time to go to the hospital. After waiting for so long, I could hardly believe that it was actually happening, but we all leapt out of bed and raced to the hospital to see my aunt before she went into surgery. We were there well into the afternoon, and at the end of the day, we got the news that the new lung was in and inflating on its own.

What a miracle this is, my friends. We are all grateful for the knowledge people have that makes this surgery possible. We're grateful that it happened in time for my aunt and that she is doing well. And we are grateful to the person, whoever they were, that was willing to share their life with us and give my aunt a second chance. Everyone, please take a minute to think about all the things you have to be grateful for, and if you haven't, consider checking that little box on your driver's license that says "Donor." We can only imagine the miracles that may come of it.