I was extremely honoured to speak at a Legacy of Life event which honours donors and their families. It was very, very emotional. It also gave me an even deeper understanding of the other side of organ and tissue donation.
At one point Tara wrote this down and slid it over to me:
Those families are amazing. During such a horrible time, when they are swimming in grief, they were able to honour their loved ones' wishes of donation.
I've had the honour to speak to some family members and the consensus seems to be that knowing their loved ones left a legacy has really helped them.
My awesome friend Tara came with me. She was a great support and cried right along with me. She used to work at the tissue bank (which I wrote about in a previous post) and had been to this event in the past. This time was different, as she was a guest, and was able to experience it in a different way.
The event was sad, yet uplifting in it's own way.
Everyone there knows that their loved one is a hero.
I hope I conveyed that in my presentation.
I sat by a woman who lost her son. She had such a big heart.
She wanted to make something very clear to me. She said "you do not owe anybody anything."
Those words meant a lot.
I may not owe anybody anything, but I sure as hell am going to do anything and everything I can to honour my donor and keep our chunkers as healthy and happy as possible.
If that includes dancing like a fool, singing completely off tune and eating Doritos....than I will. Dedication.
I like to think my donor would be proud. That they were in the room yesterday. Keeping me (somewhat) calm and giving me strength to share my story with such an inspiring audience.
After the event, Tara and I were on another mission.
I was invited to CTV studios for an interview.
Aside from the fact that it was National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, NS is also making headlines due to our Minister of Health and Wellness opening up discussions re: presumed consent, therefore the news stations were reaching out to organ recipients, people waiting on transplant lists, etc. for their stories and opinions on the subject.
Tara and I were like little kids. We were so excited. It started the second we got to this door:
I was interviewed by Kayla Hounsell. She was really cool. Made me feel very comfortable. Also, she was wearing green and if you remember - green is the colour of organ donation, therefore she's cool.
This is her:
Although I can't watch it myself, it's right here http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=352701
Not that this is at all important, but I really should have coloured my hair prior to being interviewed. Can you say holy grey????!!!
Actually, I prefer silver.
I'm really too young to be dealing with all this silver hair. I get ID'd at the liquor store....do they not see the grey? I mean, silver?? But hey, if everyone wants to think I'm 18, I'm game.
Anyway, here's Tara and I being cool:
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| This is my official pose |
On a sad note, the boys went back to Africa today, but will be back in 4 weeks. It's very quiet in our house without them....well Brad kinda makes up for it with his singing and gibberish blah blah blah that goes on from the second his eyelids open to the second they close at night.
It's actually really awesome to be a part of this household. I love it here.
Miss you guys! 4 weeks will fly...summer will be fabuloso!
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