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Crazy as a Loom

Monday, April 19, 2010

My hero.


Everyone has one. A hero.

I don't often tell him.....would make his head so big, we would have to get a new front door, but my DH is mine.
Eleven years ago, when we met over lunch at Red Lobster, he told me his life story. All of it. Complete with a liver transplant.
ACK! WTH???
Those were my thoughts.
He told me later that he figured he should fess up in the beginning, and then if I wanted to run, he wouldn't get hurt.
But in the true spirit of "Hilary", I thought...........hell, no, you aren't scaring me away. I'll decide that one for myself. (And I wonder where my kids get it)
It was a good decision, one of my best.
They have been good years. He is honest, hardworking, outspoken, and most of all, he is my best friend.

I don't know what it feels like to stay in the hospital for 6 months, and come out with a new liver. I can't imagine the pain, the sickness, the fear.
I can tell you this: he takes a handful of medication, and I do not exaggerate here, morning and night. He never complains about it. He never bemoans his fate.
He is grateful, and he says it is a small price to pay to have his life back.

Maybe you have never thought of organ donation. Maybe you think it doesn't matter.
Think again.
Here is my husband, he is the clothes horse on the right, with the County Clerk.

Clerks, DMV Help Support Organ Donation

Pam Vogel and Bill Kenny are holding a promotional poster advocating organ donation

The New York State Association of County Clerks (NYSACC) and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles are joining with the New York Alliance for Donation to encourage organ and tissue donation.

NYSACC President Sylvia M. Rowan and Warren County Clerk Pamela Vogel wish to remind all state residents that there is an urgent need to increase registration for donation. Currently only 11% of potential donors enroll in the NYS Donate Life Registry, a number well below the national average of 43%. Of those who do enroll, nearly all do so through the DMV’s license application or renewal process. It is hoped that with increased awareness in Motor Vehicle offices more will seriously consider making the decision to become a donor.

Supervisor Bill Kenny (GF-5th Ward), chairman of the county’s County Clerk/DMV committee says it best – “No one understands the importance of organ donation better than I. On June 12, 1994, I was within 48 hours of certain death. I had been in NYU hospital for three months at that point awaiting a liver transplant. On that day, I went through 16 hours of surgery to receive an organ that was donated by a 19 year old Mississippi man who had perished in a tragic automobile accident. I was given the most precious gift—the gift of life and I am eternally grateful. I am now in my 7th term representing my neighbors. What better way to give back to the community that gave me so much growing up. While organ donation may not be for everyone, everyone needs to consider it. Your organ is needed here on earth. Please don’t take your organs to heaven.”


Trust me, organ donation matters.






17 comments:

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

What a wonderful life gift your dh has been given! And blessed the both of you are to have met! I think you are pretty special person, Hilary, so I know he is, too!

xo, misha

Michael said...

That was as fitting a tribute to adoration as I've witnessed in some time. Beautiful. My license reads "Organ Donor". (Granted, odds are good the liver will be the last thing they harvest) but if my heart or kidneys can help someone walk on, well, I figure the circle stays a circle. And that is Golden. To me, at least. :)

ethelmaepotter! said...

I am constantly appalled at the low numbers of potential organ donors registered. I know so many people who offer an excuse based on outmoded religious beliefs; "I need all my parts when I get to Heaven!" Good grief!

When my own children were about the same age, I had a dear friend whose youngest son was in dire need of a kidney transplant. He was eventually number one on the donor recipient list, but he died before one could be found: he was a few days shy of three years old.

Death is never easy, but it comforts me to know that some day, someone, somewhere, may see because of my eyes, my breathe because of my heart, may live without pain because of my donation.

Thank you for this most important post.

Gjeani said...

you have a special husband and I believe he has a special wife. I am an organ donor since high school, when a clasmate her dad died becourse there was no kidney for him. She handed out donation forms to the whole school. Here in Holland you have to tell the government you want to be a donor. Everyone who gets 18 receives a paper in the mail that he or she can sign and send back if he wants to be donor. In Belgium the system works different. you are a donor unless you send a letter to the Government that you don't want to be. I think that is better! You think about it more and they have more people who are donor in Belgium than in the Netherlands.
I am not affraid of death, I don't believe live ends there. And isn't it a beautiful gift after I am gone that someone is there living becourse of me dying? In heaven you don't need your body.

Anonymous said...

I have been designated an organ donor for many many years. We do not need our body parts when we are finished with this life, so let someone live on until they no longer need their parts either. It's the ultimate recycling, isn't it?

Hilary said...

What a beautiful tribute to your wonderful hero and a wise reminder to donate. Thank you for this.

järnebrand said...

When I go to heaven, (or wherever I am going...), I am sure I won't be needing my body or my organs anymore. If people, after I am dead, need parts of me to live, by all means, they are welcome to use what they can.
Great post. Well done. Congrats on the POTW from HIlary! :) Love/ Jo.

Sueann said...

Wonderful post and tribute to your DH!! I too am an organ donor. And proud of it.
Congrats on your POTW
Hugs
SueAnn

Brian Miller said...

great piece and you are right it does matter...to many lives waiting in line right now watching the hands of the clock sweep faster and faster. congrats on the poTW...

CiCi said...

Your first date with your dear husband was at a Red Lobster for lunch; my hubby and I met at a Soup Plantation for lunch. Your beginnings sound so similar to ours. We have been together four and a half years. We are organ donors and believe it is what we should do. When we don't need our old bodies any longer, someone else may be able to use some of or lots of it to make their life better for as long as possible. We are all connected anyway. This is wonderful writing. Congrats on POTW.

KarenInTheWoods said...

Don't know what they want from my old bod, but they are welcome to it! Family knows my wishes too, which I think is important. In some states you need a family member to give permission above and beyond the drivers license sticker....

Land of shimp said...

My driver's license is marked for organ donation, and always has been, always will be :-) Thank you for the reminder of why that is a truly important thing to do.

Also, thank you for being the sort of person who did not runaway at the revelation that some of the most worthwhile people in the world, are those that have survived.

Congratulations on the post of the week mention, I wish everyone could read this, and take it to heart.

Bety said...

Absolutely, I've been on the organ donor list on my Driver's license since I was 18 even though my mother didn't agree at the time, but if I should die in an accident and someone can benefit from my parts, they're welcome to them. I'm not going to need them in the casket. My husband's aunt is a heart transplant receiver 10 yrs and counting because the parents of a 16 yr old boy made that gift possible. Congratulations on finding the perfect person for you to share your life with.

Daryl said...

Congrats on the POTW mention from Hilary and for this fabulous post to remind us all how important it is to be an organ donator

Pearl said...

What a lovely story -- and what lovely people!

Pearl

Country Girl said...

Nicely done, my friend.

Unknown said...

This is so heartwarming,
congrats on the POTW. Organ donation is a good thing.
And i love the song btw !

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