Gifts, Treasures and Light the Night

Monday was an exciting day at our house.  In fact, it was so exciting that Jeff ran over to Kerry and Theresa’s house at 7:30 a.m., collected Rosie and brought her to our house to watch the goings on!  We had our two big oak trees removed!  One was diseased and the other, although healthy, was heavy with branches to one side.  Jeff was concerned it would cause damage to our house or a neighbor’s house if a superstorm toppled it.  It was sad to see them go since it will severely change the way we use our back yard.  We will replant – a willow oak or tulip poplar or something.

Back to the exciting part:  One worker was lifted high into the tree on the ball of a crane and then spent the day in the tree, coming down only for lunch. There were loud trucks and loud men, enormous chainsaws, sawdust.  I had warned Jeff that he wouldn’t be able to keep Rosie at our house with all that noise!  Boy, was I wrong!  Jeff and Rosie watched from the back porch, in a lawn chair at the back of the garage, from the dining room.  They went for walks so they could see it from vantage points all around the block.  I should have guessed that Rosie, the daughter of two engineers, would be right there with Jeff, enjoying the hub-bub.  Jeff sent a picture of Rosie to me at work with the caption, "Watching the Tree Men.  It's a nail-biter!"

One day last week Jeff called me at work.  He had just arrived home and noticed there was a delivery – a box from Gift of Life.  He put the phone down to open the carton, then picked up the phone and said, “There’s another box.  Wait a minute.”  I heard sounds of packaging material rustling.  Finally Jeff said, “It’s a crystal, a trophy.”

I teased, “Well, it was worth having a transplant if you get a trophy!”  It has both Nicole’s and Jeff’s names, the date they met and “Partners for Life.”  Nicole also has one.  It is a beautiful commemorative piece.   

We have had some very nice email messages from the staff at Gift of Life and family and friends who supported our teams for both the Gift of Life and the upcoming Light the Night event.  It seems most nights we have a few emails to write, thank you messages mostly.  And so we are still riding the high from meeting Nicole. 

It seems as if we will have a continued relationship with Gift of Life and we are happy to help them promote the value of swabbing.  Our Light the Night coordinator has plans for Jeff as well.  Stay tuned for news of future public speaking engagements.  

Lately, when answering the question, “How was meeting Jeff’s donor?” I have managed to make people cry.  We have shared the children’s book we wrote for Nicole’s children – that makes people cry.  Several people told me that our last blog entry, “The Big Meet,” made them cry (and I worried it was too bland).  It takes me a little by surprise when others cry while I do not (that’s new!).  On occasion, a tear escapes but not so much that I can’t continue to talk.  I don’t mean to wring tears out of the people around me but I realized that I am grateful for their emotion.  It reminds me that the link between Jeff and Nicole is not an everyday, commonplace thing.  It is a treasure, a gift. 

There is still time to support our Light the Night Team.  Use the link on the right, if you are so inclined.