Revive Hope

Family Circle Garden - Rose Dedications...

I’m stealing again… A few days ago, Scott posted about the Donate Life Rose Dedication Program, and about our Gift of Hope Illinois float rider, Anne Gulotta. She wrote a beautiful little note about the Family Circle Garden – about the opportunity to participate in the Donate Life Float and the Rose Parade by dedicating a rose on the float to a donor, donor family, recipient, or someone touched by organ donation:

A beautiful event will take place on New Year’s Day on the Donate Life Float.

Twenty four float riders will gather at 5 a.m. Pacific time to take the ride of their life. Among all the fragrant and colorful flowers that cover the 55 foot long Donate Life float, a special area will be dedicated to the Family Circle Garden. The Family Circle Rose Dedication Program offers families touched by organ and tissue donation the opportunity to honor their loved ones by dedicating a rose that is tagged with a personal message and placed in the Family Circle Garden. The Garden is a living memorial of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float.

Families and organizations can participate. Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Ill. is one of many participating hospitals who will be participating. This is a special event, and there will be a ceremony in Pasadena focused on placing the roses on the float. Viewers will be fixated on the majestic Phoenix which rises 30 feet into the air. The extraordinary display of roses will also be a highlight.

As an Ambassador for Gift of Hope and Donate Life, my role is to promote organ donation. In doing so I would like to extend to you my service and offer to place a rose(s) in your honor of the person you are honoring. If you have never dedicated a rose on the float, I strongly urge you to do so. There will be over 3000 roses dedicated, and I hope to be photographing and documenting the event. I hear it’s a tear-jerker.

It’s easy to sign up for the program. You can read dedications that have been posted. If you have already dedicated a rose(s) let me know who you are, and I will ask permission to place the rose in your honor.

The Rose Dedication program has been a way for me and my family to honor Jay and the lives he saved. A woman by the name of “Rose” once said; “We a make a living by what we get, We make a life by what we give.”

That’s what organ donation is all about. Giving life to others. So, it’s important that we occasionally honor those who’ve been touched by organ and tissue donation.

~ Anne

I was able to do this last year – I was able to place roses for Kari and Chloe, and for several people who are very special to me. Annie’s note prompted me to do what I’ve been meaning to do for two or three months now – I finally did it today. Can you believe that I’m only allowed 200 characters for the dedication? I sneeze more characters than that… Maybe that’s why I procrastinate – I find it difficult to say all I want to say in 10,000 words, much less 200 characters. This is the dedication I sent today:

Kari, It’s been almost 10 years. You’ve given me so much more than breath and life; you’ve given me your friends. They share as if they were with you yesterday; they’ll never forget you. Love, Steve

You too can dedicate a rose to someone you’ve loved and lost, or someone who saved your life or saved the life of someone you love. There are a wide range of packages that include keepsakes and remembrances, and you can find them and order through this link to the Donate Life Family Circle.

Video from our 2009 rose dedication ceremony:

A silent killer

As promised in my blog last week I thought I'd post a bit about Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), or blood clots.  Don't shrug this off! Blood clots are serious, and sometimes deadly! According to PreventDVT.org, it is assumed that 2 million people each year suffer from DVTs, and 10,000 die from complications of DVTs called Pulmonary Embolisms (PE)-more than breast cancer and AIDS combined.

Quick definitions from Mayo Clinic:

   DVT

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition in which a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in your body, usually in your legs. Deep vein thrombosis can cause leg pain, but often occurs without any symptoms.

Deep vein thrombosis can develop if you're sitting still for a long time, such as when traveling by plane or car, or if you have certain medical conditions that affect how your blood clots.

Deep vein thrombosis is a serious condition because a blood clot that has formed in your vein can break loose and travel to your lungs. However, many deep vein thromboses disappear on their own.

    PE

Pulmonary embolism is a condition that occurs when one or more arteries in your lungs become blocked. In most cases, pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that travel to your lungs from another part of your body — most commonly, your legs.

Pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening, but prompt treatment with anti-clotting medications can greatly reduce the risk of death. Taking measures to prevent blood clots in your legs also can help protect you against pulmonary embolism.

So, you might be thinking "I'm healthy, I've got nothing to worry about!" Let me remind you that you are wrong, and naiveness can be a deadly mistake.  ANYONE can be affected by a blood clot. Prior to my DVT, I was at the peak of health.  I worked out 5-6 times a week. I could run miles at a time and thought nothing could get me down. Obviously, I was wrong and I want to make sure no one else makes that same mistake!

DVTs are not discriminatory they can cause anyone (healthy or sick) trouble.  Here is a list of risks that  may cause some people to be affected more than others, from Mayo Clinic:

• Sitting for long periods of time, such as when driving or flying.
• Inheriting a blood-clotting disorder.
• Prolonged bed rest, such as during a long hospital stay, or paralysis.
• Injury or surgery.
• Pregnancy. 
• Cancer. 
• Heart failure. 
• Birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy.
• A pacemaker or a thin, flexible tube (catheter) in a vein.
• A history of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.
• A family history of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.
• Being overweight or obese.
• Smoking.

Some additional risk factors from PreventDVT.org:

• Respiratory Failure
• Infectious Disease
• Age > 40

In about half of all cases, deep vein thrombosis occurs without any noticeable symptoms.

When signs and symptoms of deep vein thrombosis occur, they can include:

• Swelling in the affected leg, including swelling in your ankle and foot.
• Pain in your leg; this can include pain in your ankle and foot. This pain often starts in your calf and can feel like cramping or a "charley horse."
• Redness and warmth over the affected area.
• Pain or swelling in your arms or neck. This can occur if a blood clot forms in your arms or neck.

The warning signs of a pulmonary embolism include:

• Unexplained sudden onset of shortness of breath
• Chest pain or discomfort that worsens when you take a deep breath or when you cough
• Feeling lightheaded or dizzy, or fainting
• Coughing up blood
• A sense of anxiety or nervousness

If you have any of the symptoms listed above, do not delay, seek medical attention promptly.  If you have shortness of breath and are coughing up blood go straight to the emergency room.

To prevent blood clots make sure to get up and MOVE!  If you have long periods where you are sitting, get up and stretch your legs, and if you can't sit at your desk and flex your calf muscles. It is also very important to drink lots of water...especially if you are on a long plane trip.

The most important advice I can give is to know the symptoms of a DVT/PE and listen to your body! I'm extremely grateful that I did!

He never stops giving thanks for the gift of life...

This afternoon, we’ll have our Thanksgiving meal at my little sister, Karen’s home. Mom will say grace – she usually does – and at the end of her prayer, she will give thanks for a 17-year-old girl and her family. She does this on Thanksgiving – but not only on Thanksgiving – we hear her do this at every meal we have with her. And often enough – she stumbles over a few of the words while she holds back tears. Her son, who she likely thought would not live that long, is here, but the thought of losing him has probably crossed her mind several times. She did not have to experience that because of another family who lost their precious daughter, and had the courage and compassion to follow through on her wishes.

Two weeks ago, I met a man who wrote a beautiful little column on the tavern/restaurant where Laura and I and our friends go regularly… Laura and I had our wedding reception there twenty-some years ago and we are there for breakfast quite regularly. Many of Kari’s friends have been there with us too. He wrote about Blackie’s… Carm, one of our regular waitresses there pointed him out when we had breakfast a few weeks ago and we stopped over to thank him for writing the article. Apparently, Carm had already suggested to him that he might want to check out my story but, before he could really ask, my wallet was already out and I was showing him pictures of Kari… I met him for lunch at Blackie’s a few days later – this is his Thanksgiving column:

He never stops giving thanks for the gift of life
Don Terry, Chicago Sun-Times
Thursday, November 26, 2009

Every Thanksgiving, before the turkey gets carved and the sweet potato pie is pulled out of the oven, I make a thankful-for list in my head.

This year it includes my thanks that my mother is almost 92 and can still pick up and carry her 2-year-old great granddaughter, Little Miss Hurricane.

I'm thankful that my beautiful wife still laughs at most of my jokes and that I have more hair than my brother, although he will argue the point down to the last silvery strand.

I'm also thankful that my job allows me to meet a guy like Steve Ferkau, and through him, the deceased Iowa teenager who saved his life.

I met Steve for lunch the other day at Blackie's in the South Loop. When his grilled cheese sandwich and coke arrived, he pulled a plastic medication box from his pocket and popped a few of the 35 pills he takes daily to survive.

He has diabetes and high blood pressure. His kidneys are beginning to "go south" because of all the medication he has to take.

"By the end of the year,'' he said, "I could be in kidney failure."

Yet, as far as he is concerned, every day is Thanksgiving.

"I've smoked the odds," he told me, with a huge smile.

Ten years ago, Steve needed an oxygen tank to breath. It took him 25 minutes to walk two blocks.

He was 40, and he was dying of a lifetime of cystic fibrosis. The only thing that could save him was a double lung transplant.

He was placed on a waiting list. Four times he received the call to Rush hospital, told that a donor had been found.

"There were four false alarms," he said. "The first time was devastating. It happened a week after my father died."

The fifth time he was called there was a perfect match. A 17-year-old girl from a small town in Iowa had died the day before her junior prom after a blood vessel burst in her brain.

The girl was a star on her high school volleyball team. Her strong heart went to a 50-year-old woman. Her powerful lungs went to Steve on April 8, 2000.

Six days after the surgery, Steve was released from the hospital. Ten weeks after that he was back to work at the Chicago Stock Exchange.

"I have not called in sick in the nine years since then," he said.

Steve eventually learned the girl's name, Kari Westberg. He and his wife, Laura, got to know her parents and some of her high school classmates. He visited Kari's grave.

"I think of her when I get up in the morning and when I go to sleep at night," he said. "She didn't die because of me, but I am alive because of her."

For the last eight years, Steve has helped raise nearly $200,000 in Kari's honor for lung disease research by climbing stairs -- 94 stories at a time -- in the "Hustle up the Hancock" in February.

The first time he hustled up, Steve raised $9,000 in pledges. He was climbing by himself then. Over the years he has been joined by dozens of teammates. They call themselves Kari's Klimbers.

A group of Kari's friends from high school travel to Chicago to climb with Steve and Melissa Simon, 29, a heart transplant recipient from Westchester, who made the climb for the first time last year.

"I had quite a few of Kari's friends cheering me to the top," Melissa said.

It took her 32 minutes. It usually takes Steve longer because he stops to talk with volunteers along the way, thanking them and showing them the photograph of Kari he always carries.

Steve has started training for this February's Hustle by walking the stairs of his South Loop high rise. He's trying not to think about his deteriorating kidneys.

If someday Steve needs a kidney transplant, one of Kari's friends has volunteered to give him one of hers.

Just so you know – my kidneys are “heading South”, but they’re still in pretty good shape – I still probably have some years out of them, but you just never know… And though Rush took care of me up through transplant, I received Kari’s beautiful lungs at Loyola – I probably misspoke in the excitement of telling my story… As anyone who knows me is aware, I do go off on tangents now and then when I chat!

I have more to be thankful for than most – and among those many things I’m thankful for, I’m also thankful for people like Don Terry, who take the time to tell stories about others. And I’m thankful for Kari, and the family who raised her and instilled in her how special the gift of life truly is…

When you’re giving thanks throughout this season – think about the gifts you can leave for others when you leave this beautiful planet… Think about organ donation.

What "Thanks" Means to Me...

I'm just outright stealing this from Scott over at I am. Are you? And I will be stealing in the future too - but maybe in the future I'll just reference the post and link you over there... Scott's post is a note from my friend Annie, who gets to ride the Donate Life Float in the Rose Parade this coming New Year's Day. Scott will be posting messages from Anne periodically up to, and through her ride on the float. I got to tell my stories last year (with Scott's help too)... I want Anne to have her chance to tell her stories this year!  Here is a link to Scott's post, "What 'Thanks' Means to Me" 

Back in August, we unveiled Illinois’ 2010 Donate Life Rose Parade Float Rider, Anne Gulotta. She will be paying tribute to her husband Jay, who was a donor in 2002 in addition to honoring Cameron Chana of Clarendon Hills, Ill. who was a donor earlier this year. Both Cameron and Jay will be represented through floragraphs on the Float.

From now through December, we’ll feature a series of posts from Anne and the Chana family to help provide insight into what it means to honor organ/tissue donors and help promote the issue on a national scale through the Float.

At previous meetings with Anne, she has continually mentioned the theme of “thanks” in regard to the feelings that arise when we think of those that have given the gift of life. In light of Thanksgiving, I asked Anne to provide some further insight on the theme.

Thank you Anne and Happy T-Day and safe travels to all!

-Scott

What "Thanks" Means to Me

I’m very excited to share my journey with you to the 2010 Rose Bowl Parade. As you may know, Steve Ferkau has passed the baton to me this year, and promised to teach me the crucial parade float crowd wave. I’ve known Steve since 2005 when we met after a photo shoot for the annual Gift of Hope calendar.

Soon after, Steve and I were presenting together, quickly earning our reputation as the Dynamic Duo. I talk about my experience as a donor family and wife, and Steve talks about the lifesaving double lung transplant he received from his donor, Kari. For that he is grateful, and gives thanks every day of his life.

You may have seen a rendition of the float A New Life Rises. A phoenix rises from the ashes bringing hope to others. My son JR is an aspiring singer songwriter. He said to me one day; “Mom, in memory of dad and in honor of the lives he saved I’m writing a song.” The melody came quickly, but the words did not. How would he express the loss of his father, and still honor those who received the gift of life? It was pretty easy for him once he gave it some thought, and soon “Thank You” was written.

In just a few days we will all give thanks to the bountiful meal put in front of us. At our house we are pretty traditional. Turkey, stuffing (two kinds), potatoes (two kinds), and a bunch of other stuff including homemade pumpkin pie. It’s a tradition in our house to go around the table and give thanks for something that has brought meaning to our lives. JR puts it eloquently in the song when he writes and I paraphrase; ” Of all these thoughts holding me, I feel strength in belief of a new life rising out of me, I can see hope in what I need, a purpose driving me.”

After Jay (my husband of 18 years) died I felt very alone, but soon I was involved with Gift of Hope delivering a message of hope, love, and strength. I’m grateful for the strength to tell my story, and the purpose that now drives me to tell my story. Sometimes we need to reach deep into our souls to look past hurt and grief to find the good and be thankful.

Jay saved many lives. His left kidney recipient is Julie. Julie would not be alive today if it wasn’t for the gift of life Jay gave to her. I’ve gotten to know Julie quit well, and I will write more about that later. I give thanks to Jay every day. Julie is an extraordinary human being. She is kind, loving, and strong. Julie, her husband Ed, and all their friends and family give thanks to organ donation, because Jay lives on. Julie is a testimony to that.

Organ donation has a ripple effect. So many lives have been touched by the gift of life that one person gave. Jay’s heart was given to a 55-year-old man, his right kidney to a 16-year-old girl, and he gave someone sight. He donated tissue too and part of his liver was donated. Life carries on, and the relationships I have formed in the past seven years are precious. I am very close to JR and my daughter Elizabeth, and although I lost my best friend and husband, I have a new friend in Julie. I say thank you to them all.

Enjoy this holiday season. Eat the turkey and savor the pumpkin pie, and when you wake up each morning, give thanks for something in your life.

-Anne

Lions and Tigers and Bears... And Bear Cubs...

I’m picking this up from Scott over at I am. Are you? Yesterday he posted about a commercial for Donate Life Illinois featuring Chicago Bear’s cornerback, Charles Tillman. His precious little Bear cub – his daughter Tiana – at three months was diagnosed with cardiomyopaty in May of 2008. In August, 2008, she received a new heart…

Charles has since become a vocal advocate for organ donation… Here is the commercial they produced:

Scott posted a recap of the video shoot a few weeks ago… And here is an August, 2008 story on the Bear’s website about the Tillman story…

Iowa bound... and Hustlin' up the Hancock...

Laura and I are heading out to University of Iowa this coming weekend… I was invited to speak at their Heart/Lung Transplant Picnic! Some of the staff there heard me speak at a few Iowa Donor Network functions and asked if I’d be interested in hauling my fanny out there. Duhhhh… Not only are my lungs closer to home – but I get to buy more IOWA apparel… (I know Laura is soooo happy…)

Beyond being around a bunch of other heart and lung recipients, as well as some people waiting for these gifts, there will be some medical staff there, and one or two people from Iowa Donor Network who I just adore… And University of Iowa takes care of Kari’s heart too. Kari’s heart recipient, Sandy, may be there – but it’s actually a longer drive for her than it is for me!!! I’ve met her before – she’s a wonderful person – and if she can’t make it, I get to be around the people who take care of her heart. I’m very much looking forward to heading out there!

I also signed up for my 8th Hustle up the Hancock… “Regular” registration is not until 8:00am on Monday, November 2nd. I sign up early and pledge to raise $1,000 so that I can have my team created on registration day.  Here is what my Hustle webpage reads:

This will be my 8th trip up the John Hancock Center for the RHAMC with my team named Kari’s Klimbers. I’ve had amazing teams, and by the end of this climb my teams will have raised over $200,000.00 to help people breathe. I’ve had incredible climbers, and support from so many generous people.

The reason I can climb 94 floors is in the picture I’m holding. In March 2000, in Iowa, when Kari was 17-years-old, she told her family how strongly she felt about organ donation. Twice. A month later, she passed away and her family honored her wishes.

I was in Chicago. My lungs were failing and I was dying after struggling for 40 years with cystic fibrosis. This beautiful girl from Iowa came into my life in April, 2000. I breathe with Kari’s lungs. She is on my mind and in my heart always.

Among my amazing climbers, for the past five years, several of Kari’s friends and volleyball teammates have come out from Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois to climb with me – in memory of their friend, and to honor the gifts she gave, and the person she was. Can you imagine what I feel like when I’m around them?

This will be my 10th year with her beautiful lungs. I do this to honor Kari and her family – and to honor the precious friends who surrounded her and loved her, and who she loved. I do this in hopes that others will recognize how important being an organ donor truly is, and will decide to someday become someone’s hero, like Kari is mine. And I do this to honor anyone who struggles with lung disease, like I did, in hopes they can someday feel like I feel.

If you have a couple of bucks to pledge me, or someone on my teams – it’s greatly appreciated! But more than anything, I want you to know about the girl who saved my life. And like her, please think about organ donation – sign your registry, and tell your family how you feel. I know a beautiful girl from Iowa who knew how she felt and she told her family. I think about her every single day.

Love, Steve

You can read a little more about her at:

www.ClimbingForKari.org

If you’re interested in a $120 tour of 94 floors of all of the stairwells leading to the top of the fourth tallest building in Chicago on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 (with the money going towards a very good cause…), there will be instructions on how to sign up on my www.ClimbingForKari.org website. Sign-up is November 2nd at 8:00am, and it sells out in 30 minutes or less. (p.s. we’re going to the top of the tallest on November 15th…  There's still room on my team there too!

Samantha's story...

I've written about Tim and Sam last year in a post titled Samantha… From time to time, I have the honor of participating in presentations about organ donation with Tim. Scott and his posse over at Donate Life Illinois have produced another incredible video - this will give you a little idea of what it's like presenting with Tim:

She was an amazing girl, and they are a truly beautiful family... I don't have anything else to say. I hope it leaves you speechless too.

For a higher quality image, you can go directly to YouTube to watch Samantha's story…

A few of my favorite things... Buck's lithopanes.

OK, one of my favorite things in particular…

I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while – about few little works of art made for me by someone very special to me…

I posted about the Tri-for-life team here and here and here. They lost their youngest brother, Chase, six years ago. The first time I met them, I also met their dad, Buck – he’s on the far left in the picture above… Buck is a big man – but I think he also has a heart ten times too big for his body. It’s not a medical condition… It’s filled with extra helpings of pain, but also with strength and compassion, and love… He misses his son, but he also sees the gifts that Chase gave – and through that, the gifts that others gave. He and his boys will help others understand how precious and important those gifts are and, when they have the opportunity, that giving these gifts should be the natural option…

A short while after we met, I got an email from Buck asking for a high quality digital image of my favorite picture of Kari. I told him I have two favorites – either one I love – and they were scans of wallet-size prints, but they were decent scans… I told him he could use whichever one was better for his purpose… This was one of the pictures I sent him…

I knew that Buck was into woodworking and other crafts – I didn’t know what he planned on doing, but I figured it might be something neat… A few weeks later, he sent me a link to his website and explained what he was doing. He explained that he would be turning them into “lithopanes”… And that he would make one of each photo I sent…

I saw examples on his website – and they looked beautiful… Suddenly, I was in a dilemma – I knew that if Buck made lithopanes of Kari, I would need to offer one or both of them to Kari’s Mom & Dad. Not because they would expect it – but because I couldn’t possibly hold onto a gift like this without offering it to her family… So, in my tiny mind I was already planning to send them both to Kari’s Mom & Dad and telling them to pick their favorite, and send the other back – or, if they wanted, they could keep both of them…

Buck knew how I’d operate… When I opened the package from him, there were two sets of each – with a note that one set was for Kari’s Mom & Dad… Buck included a beautiful letter to Kari’s Mom & Dad, telling them about Chase, and that he watched me breathe into Kari’s lungs and that he could tell my heart screams Kari’s name with every beat… When I saw the two sets of lithopanes, I cried… His boys told me that Buck knew what he was doing – that Buck knew that I would send them to her family if I only got one set…

Kari’s lithopanes are in a window in our living room that gets the most light, and it’s where I do all of my medical checks when I wake up every morning – I see them every morning – I see the light shining through them and I think of her and her family, and I think of Chase and Buck and their family too… The lithopane picture above is lit from the front and shows the relief etching. The picture to the left is what it looks like when lit from behind. They can be hung in a window, like mine – or framed in a light-box.

One of them played a part in my little video below. At around the 1:29 mark, you can see me holding Kari’s lithopane – then raising it to the sun:

The pictures – even the video – do not do these lithopanes justice… You need to hold them, and touch them – and hold them up to the sun… I take them with me, from time to time, when I’m out and about speaking or doing something for organ donation – I love handing my lithopane to someone and see them look at the relief image. Then I tell them to hold it up to the light… You need to see their eyes when they first see the image – it’s magical… To see the rough, relief image turn into a photographic image in sunlight, or bright light can be breathtaking. Maybe, I also see the love that went into making them…

In his retirement, Buck has taking this up as an avocation – because he loves it, and it’s meaningful to him… He has a website where he sells his woodworking plans, finished works and lithopanes at www.familytraditionwwp.com. You can link directly to his site offering lithopanes here… These are beautiful, little works of art whether created of someone you love, or in memory of someone you love. I think he prices them very reasonably – information on ordering lithopanes and contact information are available on his website… Don’t hesitate to contact him (or me) for any other information!  I know where he lives...  I can pass on any questions.

This is Buck's youngest boy, Chase.  I have to believe that Chase is up there looking down, proud of his Dad.  I mentioned above, Buck has a heart far bigger than his body needs – which is probably a good thing, because a little of that heart goes into each lithopane he creates…

Trying for Life...

I’m sorry, I’ve been slacking off lately – I haven’t felt like my perky self and it may be side effects, or long term effects of some of the medications. My lungs are still amazing, and they always will be – and I still think about the girl who gave them to me constantly. I can still leap tall buildings. But some other things are a little slower, mentally and physically. The doc says something about being 50 years old. I’m not buying it – that’s not for 7 months. Anyhoo…

A few weeks ago, at the Chicago Triathlon, I got to hang with a group of guys and chicks who I think totally rock… And I got to spend some time with Ted & Bethany, who also totally rock… I’ve spent time with them before – I wrote about them before in posts titled, “Swim, Bike, Run, Chase…” and “Buck & Nancy’s boys, Chase’s brothers…” Each time I hang with them, I meet someone new, and being with them re-confirms how special they are…

They are the Tri-for-Life triathlon team, and they do what they do to honor their brother, Chase, and to spread the word about organ and tissue donation. Six years ago, Chase passed away. They tell me donating Chase’s organs was a no-brainer – he’d let them know how he felt… But more than that, he was always all about helping others.

They brought their Mom, Nancy, and Aunt Bonnie along with them… While their boys were getting ready for the event, one of the things their Mom & Aunt Bonnie wanted to do was check out “The Ledge” on the Sears Tower (Willis Tower – whatever…) Ironically, I’ve been wanting to check that out myself for months and I had two free tickets from one of our past climbs there! I took this picture of them on the ledge… And though I tried to grab the tab – they bought me breakfast afterwards… And they told me more stories about Chase – about who he was, and how he treated others…

When I hear any of them talking about Chase, I think about Kari too. I know they weren’t always the angels that some of us make them out to be – I know they were not perfect. But I also know that they were truly good people. They were surrounded by incredible love, and many, many friends. His family knows some of Chase’s recipients – they are very close to his heart recipient, Terry. I’ve met Kari’s family – I know how special they are, and I’ve met and adore many of her friends – and I’ve met the beautiful lady who has her heart. The gifts any of us receive are driven by a love for other people, and an appreciation of life, and by goodness and kindness.

This is Brandon – when he showed us his swim cap, I know I started to well up… He told Laura that from the moment he got up, he did not want to do this swim – he told her that the minute he saw us, his feelings changed and he wanted do it… He said that with all we’ve been though with my illness and waiting for lungs, this swim and this event was nothing in comparison – I see it from a different angle – I see all they’ve been through, yet they’re still fighting for people like me…

During the event, I only got pictures of them getting ready to swim. I’d like to tell you that my camera broke, or I ran out of batteries after the swim, but the group shots afterwards would kinda blow that explanation. And I didn’t even get a picture of Cindy because every time someone hollered, “There’s Cindy!!!” I only saw the back of her head running away… (Don’t even try to associate any meaning with that…)

Bethany – she’s Ted’s squeeze – she’s not part of the Tri-for-Life team… I’ll say she’s representing the My Angel Foundation and Revive Hope contingent…

Dave

Trevor

Lon

Brandon

This is me with Cindy – I just met her at this event, but I know I’ll see her again! Cindy is a perfect match for this team… We had a couple of wonderful talks about how she got into running.  She decided she needed a cause and took up the Ronald McDonald house for a while because of a friend who was helped by the organization… Then she met Lon, Trevor and Brandon. She volunteered and helped them out for a while. Soon, they invited her to be a team member. Cindy has her own blog at RunnerGirlBlog.com It’s easy to see her passion for promoting organ donation – this is what she wrote about joining their team:

As many of you know I recently became a member of a pretty fantastic team. We tri….we don’t just tri for the competition, we don’t just tri for the camaraderie. We tri because as a team we are coming together to further a beautiful and amazing cause. We tri for a purpose. We tri because 6 years ago a family lost their son and brother, and six years ago those brave family members made a decision to not allow Chase’s legacy to end there. The Coleman family donated Chase’s organs and as a result lives were saved. Though extremely tragic, unspeakable, surely an experience that words cannot accurately explain a single family saved many more. So we tri….we tri to honor Chase, to bring awareness, to offer opportunities. I am proud to be part of a team that believes in something bigger. We are more then just athletes trying to win a race or break a personal record when we are out there. We are a team, a very close team of individuals believing that collectively, we can and will make a difference.

She’s right – they can and will make a difference… Just like Chase & Kari did…

Roses and remembering...

This year, I had the most amazing New Year’s that I’ve had in my life. I got to ride the Donate Life Float in the Rose Parade carrying Kari’s picture. On New Year's Day, 2010, Anne Gulotta will have that experience carrying Jay’s picture. I’m sure that, over the next few months I’ll be posting about her upcoming journey – and I’ll be posting about her ride.

One of the more meaningful parts of the Donate Life Float, for me, was the Family Circle Garden. It was started by a beautiful lady named Laurie Wolowic, who lost her brother and he became an organ donor. I love this picture of her, in the middle, waving, as her garden went by… She continues to be the force behind this beautiful remembrance. At the end of December, last year, Laura and I were able to place a handful of roses dedicated to people very special to us. Here is a little video about the roses I placed last year:

This year, Annie will be placing my roses – and certainly roses for many other friends along with the rose she places for Jay.

Each rose is placed in a vial that carries a unique, personal message of love, hope and remembrance. You too can place a rose to honor a donor, donor family, recipients or others touched by organ donation.

For individuals, there are five packages ranging from as little as $25. All packages include a rose with the name of your loved one or honoree and an optional dedication of up to 200 characters. (Yes, I had a lot of trouble with that limitation!) The rose will be placed on the float in the Family Circle Garden. Your rose – dedicated to someone you love – will be on a float seen by a million people in Pasadena, and tens of millions on TV on New Year’s Day… Ain’t that a cool thought?

Subsequent packages are priced between $50 and $250 and include a variety of things such as certificates, replicas of your dedication on the rose vial placed in the Family Circle Garden, pin sets and parade souvenir programs.

You can learn about the Family Circle Garden here…

You can learn about the packages available here…

You can order a rose and package online here…

There are also programs for hospitals and transplant centers, and other organizations to honor donors and donor families they’ve served…

And if you ask Annie really nicely, like I plan to, she may be able to place your rose in the garden personally…