My Inspiration

Is it a coincidence that I want to be a donor and I have two friends who have kidney transplants? Probably not. More than likely their friendship planted the seed in my mind without me or them even knowing that the seed was being planted.

My old best friend - I also have a new best friend, a best friend at work, a best friend at the gym, a best guy friend - you get the idea. Anyway, my old best friend moved to Baltimore a few years ago with her husband and they called to get a recommendation for new doctors. Specifically, he needed a nephrologist. That was when I learned he had a transplant. He had a rare condition as a child that caused both kidneys to stop functioning. Luckily, both his parents were a match and at the age of 21, he received his dad's kidney. You would never know that he has a transplant. Hmmmm... people with transplants look and act just like people without transplants.

I am on the board of a local non-profit that works on policy, legislation and programs to help remove barriers for lower wage and lower skill workers to open avenues for them to get and keep jobs with good pay and benefits. (I am doing them a great disservice by not explaining further, but it is Donate Day - 4 and I can only write so much.) I became close with one of the staff. I am not sure when, but somewhere along the way she told me that she had a kidney transplant. I never asked her the details, but I know that she received a cadaveric kidney when she was only 12 years old.

He is 43 and she is 36 now. They both have transplants that are over 20 years old. Without these kidneys, they would have died tragically young.

They are my inspiration. Whenever I get the least bit uneasy, I think of them. I felt the need to reach out to both of them this week when I needed a little dose of reassurance. They are the living proof that kidney donation gives back life. I value them in my life and know my life and others' lives would be less complete without them in it.