Never forget where you came from

     As this is the beginning of a very special week for me, I wanted to take a little time and reflect back on a few important times in my life.  My parents always said "Never forget where you came from, this is what shaped  your life".  So as I near a 20 year milestone with my first lung transplant, I wanted to share with you (never seen before on the web) a few photos over the next few days of how I came to be the person I am.

If  you look very closely at this photo, the person in the middle is me. I was in my late 20's .You may also notice that I was on oxygen, my feet using the canister as a foot stool.  In this photo I was already on the waiting list for a heart/ bi lateral lung transplant. I always wore my hair in a long braid because it kept getting tangled in the strap for my oxygen when I carried it.  I remember when I got all my hair cut off , because the thought of 3 months in a hospital with long hair wasn't appealing.  Can you believe no one noticed for a few days!  Everyone was so used to seeing my hair pulled back, they never considered that me- the one who swore to Never have short hair again had cut it all off.

      Even on oxygen I refused to give in. I walked everyday, even if I did not feel like it. Braving the neighborhood  dogs who always seemed to have the fence gates left open. What did it matter? I had seen jaws. I had oxygen. All I needed was a way to set it off right ? :)

     

       I have never forgotten these times. I promised to honor my donor each and everyday and live my life to the fullest to honor her a woman I never knew. She was 34 and we were a perfect match. She also died as the result of a major accident. I used to cry thinking that at her age she must have had small children at home who would never know Mommy. But it is also my deepest hope that they were also told stories of her bravery and how she saved the lives of many!