My mom started college in her 40’s, and when asked “why she bothered” since she would not be done until she was in her 50’s, she replied, “I will be 50 either way, either pursuing my dream or living with regrets. I prefer pursuing my dream.” When she passed at 61, she was months shy of earning her doctorate of psychology and had her own private practice. She spent her life helping others, and when my dad and I were faced with her sudden death, donation seemed like the perfect extension of who she was and how she lived her life.
At her funeral, one of her boss' stood to share a story, and it epitomized her spitfire personality that was in all 5 feet of her little frame. He was a director of a local foster care agency, and my mom was his secretary. A few months on the job, she noticed that children in the system would be taken from their homes, belongings in trash bags, and move on from those placements, with belongings STILL in trash bags. She marched into the CEO’s office and demanded that these kids be shown decency and respect and that their lives were NOT garbage, and from that day forward, every kid walked out of that agency with a suitcase.
My mom always told me to “find my passion." Little did I know it would be the organ and tissue donation community.
I have had the honor of sharing her story for close to two decades and knowing that she not only saved lives that day back in 2007 but is still impacting the community each time I share her story, and I know she is beaming from ear to ear and is cheering me on and saying, “We still have lots of work to do, kiddo. Let’s go!”
