Matters of Life and Death
What good could possibly come out of a drive-by shooting in Carmichael, CA?
A strong 22 year old heart.
The heart of that young man has been beating strong now for seven years in the chest of the recipient; a guy who was my age when he got the gift. The clock was ticking on his end and he was down to a few hours left on his life.
Later, the recipient hopped on an ATV and rode from Santa Monica to New York to raise awareness for organ donation.
Crazy!
Schools canceled, yoga’s canceled, it’s slick, it’s Friday, I’m lazy, let’s do a link dump.
First up, Candace’s post on anesthesia got me thinking on several points…how dangerous it really is. The nip and tuck I wish I could afford. And finally… an ugly confrontation I had right before Christmas with…..an anesthesiologist!
In other news, Virginia is trying to attract organ donors by waiving licensing fees at the DMV. Let’s make it really attractive and waive personal property taxes, and state income tax?
Dead People Pimping Products:
Copyranter analyzes this ad for yachts.
Last summer this ad agency was fired for the Doc Marten campaign ad that ran in the UK. In the agencies defense, someone in the Doc Marten chain APPROVED that ad.
Trim Spa still sports Anna Nicole’s image on the VIP page.
Ran into a colleague today that was just returning from a medical leave. Emergency surgery to repair a compressed disk or nerve or something that could paralyze him with just the right action. Turns out he got a replacement part from a cadaver and he’s good to go.
Thank you for that contribution.
Don’t forget to sign your donor card.
Friday’s yoga session made me think about my lungs. How lucky and grateful I am for my functional set. So why do I knowingly abuse them? Sickening.
If something were to happen to me, would they be of any value? I’ve instructed Mr. Greenjeans that in the event of my demise, to make sure that the body is stripped of anything worthwhile and donated.
We’ve talked about organ donation before and the contacts with families who when faced with tragedy, made the unselfish decision to save the lives of others with the beautiful gift of a set of lungs, or tissue, heart or kidneys. One widow told me that her husband’s donation helped 59 people. FIFTY-NINE!
Today’s Tip for better living: Open your heart.
Greetings!
Three Beautiful Things:
Fat juicy worms
The gift of life
Tacos and Bloody Marys
The Spring clean up continues, we’ve been yanking shrubs, pulling weeds and marveling at the size of the worms. A decision has been made to nix the vegetable garden this year and consolidate some of the random beds through out the yard. Last year we said No New Projects, just manage what we’ve got. This year, we’re reigning it in.
In a recent post we touched on “the gift of life” and I was reminded of a customer who shared her story of how her husband’s death saved the lives of 59 people. She says,
“Chuck’s life had been a shining star to so many and as a family we wanted his giving spirit to continue. What greater way to honor, pay tribute to, and to memorialize a loved one than to give a future to someone else.”This lady was able to meet the man who received her husband’s liver.”Jim had been waiting on an organ much too long. His first grandchild, a baby girl was due in three weeks, but he was told that he only had about a week to live. He had accepted that he was going to die.”She now lectures throughout Alabama on behalf of the Alabama Organ Center educating the public on the benefits of organ donation and says, “So I am on a mission, a mission to include the stories of donor families as part of the information available.”
Beautiful, carry on!
Lately, I’ve been thinking about a former co-worker and his family, Mr. Mike Lopez (RIP), he died on March 6, 2006 from a wicked brain tumor, the same variety that took my mother-in-law. The dreaded Glioblastoma Multiforme.
As a family….it will rock your world, and not in a good way. If anything good can be said about this tumor, is that it’s swift.
Now, back to Michael. A good man. Crazy about his wife and kids. A guitar talent. Modest. Funny. A word smith, master of trivia and bad puns. We miss you and our heart go out to Donna and the kids.
Sad to hear that Bradley Delp, lead singer of Boston passed. They were planning to tour this summer, and I’ve always regretted that I didn’t go see them in B-town a couple of years ago.
Dirtsister admires the discipline it takes to sit down and write. This is blather, and it’s an effort to crank it out. I admire the tales of writers and journalists who lugged around or rented typewriters back in the day. Can’t relate to today’s writers who still prefer the typewriter.
Today’s tip: Fill out your donor consent form and save some lives.