Ever have one of those days that you just know is going to be special? I am having one of those days. To begin with, I slept for nearly 10 hours, with only 3 visits from the baby. That’s huge. The morning started will the kids getting themselves ready for school, allowing me to get about 57 chores done before carpool. Then on the way to school, we see this:
on a day in which it was supposed to rain buckets all day long.
Later, I’m in the checkout lane at the mega mart, when I get a phone call. Now, usually I let it go to voicemail, because I don’t want to be one of those obnoxious people on the phone in the checkout lane, but I saw who it was, and my heart sunk. I knew that I had to answer the call. It was my dear friend Becky, who is conveniently married to our other dear friend, and her hot husband, Jamie:
Jamie is one of the best men I know. He is a salt-of-the-earth, tell-it-like-it-is, do-anything-for-ya, heart-of-gold kind of guy. He is a devoted husband and father to 3 great kids, a brother, and a friend to many. He shares a birthday with my hubby, born 10 years earlier. He also happens to be afflicted with fibrosis, which is a genetic lung disease that is causing his lungs to harden, and ultimately fail. Rapidly. So Jamie is in need of a double lung transplant–and fast. As if that weren’t enough, he has been in the ICU for the last week due to complications from a hospital stay.
So when his lovely bride calls, I answer. Sorry fellow shoppers.
“Hi, Beck!”
She’s crying. Crap. (Pardon the language.)
“What’s going on?”
“He’s getting the lungs!”
I am instantly sobbing in the checkout line,
“Today?!”
“Yes! It’s been a roller coaster week. I’m on my way there now.”
“Oh, thank God!”
I hang up, and apologize to the cashier, then explain what is going on. I guess I felt she deserved an explanation as to why I was suddenly sobbing in her lane. Then she starts crying. The lady behind me hears the story, and she starts crying! Pretty soon they need a mop in checkout lane 12.
So I am overjoyed! For Jamie, his wife, his children, and the rest of his family. But another part of me is sad. Sad for the organ donor, for today is a sad day for their family. Someone lost a husband or wife, mother or father, sibling and friend. I applaud their courage to make such a difficult decision in their time of grief. Because of that courage, Jamie will hopefully have more time with what matters most, his family.
