Last year we lost my beloved mother-in-law. It was hard on Packrat and the rest of the family. But that hard day would have come sixteen years earlier, if not for the compassionate act of another family that we never got to meet.
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The first time I met Packrat's mother was in the hospital. She had already been fighting a long battle with Hepatitis C, and at that moment, it looked grim. She spent several days in a coma, and her doctors weren't holding out much hope without a liver and kidney 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 got to see five grandchildren added to the family, four by birth and one by marriage, and two great-grandchildren. When Packrat's sister couldn't take care of her daughter, 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 had countless hours to play her piano, read, write, rediscover her Judaism, and spend time with family and friends.
Our joy was always 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. I hope it brought them some comfort to know that part of her lived on.
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.)
Organ donation is the next best thing to immortality. So, as the saying goes, don't take your organs with you to heaven - heaven knows we need them here!
On to Top Comments!
From Wee Mama:
Powerful summary of the transforming power of government regulation to build the middle class. (Comment is from Gooserock in Akadjian's diary Top tip for talking about the economy: Use the active voice.
From
BlueJessamine:
In Laura's diary Tom Cotton: ISIS might join with Mexican drug cartels to attack Arkansas, SphericalXS counters Republican Congressman Cotton's fearmongering conspiracy theory with Klingons!
From
your humble (if antisocial) diarist:
Flagged by smileycreek, the first-ever comment from unicorn4711 offers a wealth of information about South Dakota politics. (Found in Jeff Singer's diary the South Dakota Senate contest has become an unpredictable 3-way race.)
Flagged by Leslie Salzillo in her diary "Victim" Rush Limbaugh is whining again, brings Daily Kos into his dirty war, FishOutofWater offers this summation of Rush Limbaugh's self-inflicted wounds.
In tmservo433's diary Same-sex marriage licenses issued in Johnson County, Kansas, as judge agrees it's over, d3clark imagines the effect on everyone's favorite homophobes, and HugoDog makes a minor correction.
Top mojo, courtesy of mik:
1) I didn't see much attack on the musicians, but by lineatus — 137
2) Priceless cop speak: by Timaeus — 134
3) if the cop was as seemingly impaired as GA by annieli — 133
4) School to prison pipeline is because gotta by a2nite — 133
5) Somebody needs to be fired. by Susan Grigsby — 128
6) does this mean I can tear up my tickets /nt by annieli — 125
7) They also use arrest and conviction numbers by Horace Boothroyd III — 108
8) So true: by 4CasandChlo — 104
9) Shoot First, by SilverWillow — 102
10) And when hopefully he's disciplined or fired by Vita Brevis — 90
11) I just BET they're not commenting. by Youffraita — 91
12) Two big problems... by Catskill Julie — 88
13) Hmmm... by liberaldregs — 89
14) I hesitate to wade in here by radarlady — 85
15) Well, I want to see by RudiB — 82
16) Call me cynical, but I'm waiting to hear how... by ThanxAl — 82
17) That's about the scariest shit I can imagine ha... by bluenick — 80
18) I hope so, too. by Prognosticator — 75
19) It's gotten seriously weird since I left by Major Kong — 75
20) I thought the musicians applauded? by quince — 75
21) Exactly-- it's the "on your own time" part that by concernedamerican — 72
22) My inclination is to be super-compliant with cops by lgmcp — 72
23) you seem to be inventing a lot of projected by bevenro — 71
24) Well said. Thank you, MichaelNY. n/t by WakeUpNeo — 71
25) I saw some pretty ugly comments by ExpatGirl — 70
26) The next thing you saw after that... by The Termite — 69
27) LOL... by Youffraita — 68
28) flip the cops the bird by Cedwyn — 68
29) That last one is particularly bogus, by Dale — 68
30) Teresa Hooks by WisePiper — 66
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