Taking a breather...

I didn't post today - well, except for this...  I'll never forget last week - I'll never forget so many of the people I met...  The parade was awesome, but it wasn't about that...  It was the people.  I already miss them...  The pictures below ain't even an eighth of the people I met...

There are a few OPO and transplant professionals scattered among them - but most of the people below are recipients, donor family members, a future recipient, floragraph families or fellow float riders...  I've got stories to tell about a number of them, and pictures of many others - but I'm taking the easy way out today...

In a note to Kari's Mom, I mentioned to her that it was good that I have girlie lungs now so that I can blame the crying on something.  I'll admit, I cry a lot now - but I don't know if I could count the number of times my eyes were full of tears with these folks - sometimes in grief, most often in joy - but it was always good...  A long time ago I fell in love with Laura.  Not so long ago, I met Kari's family and friends...  Now this.  Beyond the first two - I don't know if anything can ever top this experience...

I knew them less than a week - and I could have spent the next year chatting with them.  (Laura would tell you that I can spend the next year chatting with anyone - but this was different...)  By the time I left, it felt like I'd known them forever.  The ride on the float was incredible, but it was the whole deal - the whole week...  The OneLegacy and other OPO folks were awesome - and the recipients and donor family members I met will be in my heart forever.  Maybe that's why it didn't hurt as much to leave as I thought it was going to - because that goofy song keeps playing over and over in my tiny mind - I've kept a part of all of them with me...