Happy New Year!!!
For the new year, I'd like to say thank you to all of you for the kindness that you've shown me and others over the past year. My father left this morning and is probably home by now. He took his ex-wife/lady friend on a short vacation that will probably be the last of her life. She was told recently that her kidney will only last another 3 months and then she'll have to go on dialysis. She isn't a candidate for another kidney (this one is a donor kidney and has outlasted most donor kidneys...15 years!) because of her poor health. But, she wouldn't have lived this long if it hadn't been for the kindness of the family of a young man who was killed in a motorcycle wreck. Because of a family that thought of strangers in one of the saddest moments of their lives...my father had this woman for a very long time. He would have lost her 15 years ago if that family hadn't thought to donate the organs of their loved one.
What an amazing thing it is to be the recipient of a donated organ! And what an amazing gift it is to give. I've heard that one person can donate over 60 pieces of tissue to other people that will save their life, make their life easier to live, allow them to see or allow them to live unattached to a dialysis machine. When a family loses a loved one, they would not be blamed at all for being selfish and sad for a while as they grieve. But in the saddest moment of their life, a person can think of others and give the gift of life to someone else. What an amazing thing it is to be so selfless, kind and decent.
As a nurse I go to the blood bank a couple of times a week to pick up blood or blood products of some kind and take them up to a patient who needs that blood to live. I carry the gift of life to someone who is lying in a hospital bed, sick and feeling weak. I hang the blood up and watch it go into the body of a pale, weak person and by the time I've finished, there is color if the cheeks of a person who is quite grateful to the annonymous person who took the time out of their busy life to bleed for a person that they don't know and will probably never meet.
If you haven't done so yet, sign your donor card and make your family aware of your wishes. Just signing the card won't do...your family has the right to stop the donation process if they don't want to see your organs donated. Let them know that it is your wish to donate your organs and that you don't want them to stop your gift of life. Also, if you have the time to do so, give some of your blood to someone who needs it to live. You'll never miss the pint that you give and it could literally save the live of someone else's mother, father, son or daughter.
People can be so kind, when they give their blood or donate their organs, they don't say, "Only give it to white people, republicans or other Americans." They say, "Give it to the person who needs it the most." We may bicker and argue most of the time but when it comes down to it, we are truly kind and loving people who give so much to strangers. I see people arguing over the silliest things. I don't know why we do that...but I don't think that we ever really mean to be cruel. I think we just enjoy bickering occasionally. I see the kindness of other people every day of my life as I go to work and watch the other people that I work with helping other people. And, I see them help others without ever expecting to be thanked, or even noticed...it's just their kindness that makes them do the things that they do.
I hope that this year is a good one for you all. For most of you, it will be. For some of you, it won't be. We don't know which ones of us will have a good year and which ones will have a bad year. But just in case, sign your donor card and give that pint of blood...that way you can be sure that if you or someone you love needs it, it will be there.
OK, now I have to go back and watch some more of The Twilight Zone. My father was here with me this morning when I started watching that show. Now he's at home caring for his partner. I've been sleeping on and off all day...I even slept through the dropping of the ball last night. I've just worked so many odd hours that I haven't been able to go out and have any fun but I will be doing that soon. I have to go have an outpatient surgery today...at about 2:30 EST I'll be getting drugs that will put me to sleep for a while and I should be home before the evening news tonight. Then, I'll recover from the surgery and when I'm done, I'll be ready to start the new year. I can't wait to find out what the year has in store for me.
I hope that my kids are healthy and my father is happy. I wish the same for all of you!
See you soon!
Meg
For the new year, I'd like to say thank you to all of you for the kindness that you've shown me and others over the past year. My father left this morning and is probably home by now. He took his ex-wife/lady friend on a short vacation that will probably be the last of her life. She was told recently that her kidney will only last another 3 months and then she'll have to go on dialysis. She isn't a candidate for another kidney (this one is a donor kidney and has outlasted most donor kidneys...15 years!) because of her poor health. But, she wouldn't have lived this long if it hadn't been for the kindness of the family of a young man who was killed in a motorcycle wreck. Because of a family that thought of strangers in one of the saddest moments of their lives...my father had this woman for a very long time. He would have lost her 15 years ago if that family hadn't thought to donate the organs of their loved one.
What an amazing thing it is to be the recipient of a donated organ! And what an amazing gift it is to give. I've heard that one person can donate over 60 pieces of tissue to other people that will save their life, make their life easier to live, allow them to see or allow them to live unattached to a dialysis machine. When a family loses a loved one, they would not be blamed at all for being selfish and sad for a while as they grieve. But in the saddest moment of their life, a person can think of others and give the gift of life to someone else. What an amazing thing it is to be so selfless, kind and decent.
As a nurse I go to the blood bank a couple of times a week to pick up blood or blood products of some kind and take them up to a patient who needs that blood to live. I carry the gift of life to someone who is lying in a hospital bed, sick and feeling weak. I hang the blood up and watch it go into the body of a pale, weak person and by the time I've finished, there is color if the cheeks of a person who is quite grateful to the annonymous person who took the time out of their busy life to bleed for a person that they don't know and will probably never meet.
If you haven't done so yet, sign your donor card and make your family aware of your wishes. Just signing the card won't do...your family has the right to stop the donation process if they don't want to see your organs donated. Let them know that it is your wish to donate your organs and that you don't want them to stop your gift of life. Also, if you have the time to do so, give some of your blood to someone who needs it to live. You'll never miss the pint that you give and it could literally save the live of someone else's mother, father, son or daughter.
People can be so kind, when they give their blood or donate their organs, they don't say, "Only give it to white people, republicans or other Americans." They say, "Give it to the person who needs it the most." We may bicker and argue most of the time but when it comes down to it, we are truly kind and loving people who give so much to strangers. I see people arguing over the silliest things. I don't know why we do that...but I don't think that we ever really mean to be cruel. I think we just enjoy bickering occasionally. I see the kindness of other people every day of my life as I go to work and watch the other people that I work with helping other people. And, I see them help others without ever expecting to be thanked, or even noticed...it's just their kindness that makes them do the things that they do.
I hope that this year is a good one for you all. For most of you, it will be. For some of you, it won't be. We don't know which ones of us will have a good year and which ones will have a bad year. But just in case, sign your donor card and give that pint of blood...that way you can be sure that if you or someone you love needs it, it will be there.
OK, now I have to go back and watch some more of The Twilight Zone. My father was here with me this morning when I started watching that show. Now he's at home caring for his partner. I've been sleeping on and off all day...I even slept through the dropping of the ball last night. I've just worked so many odd hours that I haven't been able to go out and have any fun but I will be doing that soon. I have to go have an outpatient surgery today...at about 2:30 EST I'll be getting drugs that will put me to sleep for a while and I should be home before the evening news tonight. Then, I'll recover from the surgery and when I'm done, I'll be ready to start the new year. I can't wait to find out what the year has in store for me.
I hope that my kids are healthy and my father is happy. I wish the same for all of you!
See you soon!
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 12:49 AM
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