I've posted about this before, but as I turned the calendar this week and realized the anniversary was here again, I figured it was time for an update.
Sixteen years ago this week, my mother-in-law had a liver and kidney transplant that saved her life.
Packrat's mother had been fighting a long battle with Hepatitis C. Sixteen years ago, it looked grim: she spent several days in a coma, and her doctors weren't holding out much hope without a transplant. At one point they told her to "prepare for death."
Then the call came.
Because of the transplant, she was there to see Packrat and me walk down the aisle, first at our "outlaw wedding," then the legal one in 2008. Packrat's brother also got married during that period. She's seen five grandchildren added to the family, four by birth and one by marriage, and two great-grandchildren. One of the older grandkids is marrying a wonderful guy this month.
When Packrat's sister couldn't take care of her daughter Kali, Packrat's mom took her for a year, until more health complications came up and Kali came to live with Packrat and me. My mother-in-law has had countless hours to play her piano, read, write, explore her rediscovery of Judaism, and spend time with family and friends.
Our joy has always been balanced by the knowledge that the liver and kidney came from a young, healthy person - a teenager, in this case - who died suddenly. We don't know any of the details about how it happened, or even if it was a boy or a girl.
Needless to say, there's a special place in our prayers for the parents who suffered this horrible tragedy, and still chose to reach out and save a stranger's life.
It's very easy to become an organ donor. Here's a state by state guide . Here in California, you can just check a box when getting or renewing a driver's license. It's vital to discuss it with your family, as they get the final say. To get on the bone marrow donor list , you go in and they take a swab from your cheek. (The actual donation is a wee bit more involved.)
I hope the parents of that teenager take some comfort in knowing that part of their child is still very much alive. Organ donation is the next best thing to immortality.