What a shocker ....
This week-end I went to visit my folks in the beautiful Laurentian Mountains on Lake MacDonald. The weather was gorgeous, the nights clear and the stars at their brightest. The first evening I was there I went down to the water's edge to look at the stars reflected in the still lake. I also saw the refection coming from a house that hadn't been there the last fall, so the next day I went over to investigate.
It was a new house, built by one of my best childhood friends, who had just inherited the land from her father who had recently passed. Ellie and her husband Norman were good friends who I had lost touch with recently .... for that I regret!
Norman walked out of the house to greet me and was as skinny as can be. He had bandages on his neck but was in great spirits. He invited me in and began to tell me about his winter ... what a winter ....
In the Fall, he had become extremely ill. It was his heart, which wasn't pumping properly so it was causing all sorts of problems. ....
To make a long story short .... he ended up having a HEART TRANSPLANT !!!!!
My God, a friend of mine, who I've known for over 30 years (I attended their wedding almost 31 years ago), who is only in his mid-fifties has a new heart. I couldn't believe it! The operation was in mid-February and he was only out of the hospital for one week when I saw him. He had complications with the surgery and it was "touch and go" for awhile. Poor Ellie had to make some very tough decisions, which could have ended Norman's life - but luck was on his side.
The doctors now saw he is healthy and his new heart is doing "just fine".
It's made me realize that I shouldn't lose touch with those I really care about because, for example, when Ellie and Norman could have used my support - I wasn't there. (I drifted away during a time when I was in a bad relationship with a man).
It also made me sign an organ transplant option on my driver's licence, which means that if I die, I can hopefully provide an organ to someone in need, just as someone did for Norman.
I thank god that Norman is healthy, and thank god both he and Ellie come from close, huge families so there was lots of support around them.
I pray that Norman will remain healthy so that he and Ellie can have at least another 31 years together.
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5 comments:
Lovely blog, very touching and you're right about being there for others!
One of my friends had a transplant 14 years ago, and is still going strong. I think we all let good friends slip away because of lack of time, and sometimes it takes a drastic event to remind us that time is finite, and that we need to extend that hand of friendship again.
xx
AM
Lesley, I remember someone mentioning that Norm had been having heart problems.
What an awe-inspiring story - might even make for a good love story, too!
I haven't seen Ellie or Norm for a good 35 years now. And now I wish I had been able to get together with them while I was home last fall.
If you see them again, give each one of them a big hug from me!
Yes, some events in life can affect us to see things from a completely different perspective.
xo
Leslie, it makes you realise just how tenuous lfe can be, doesn't it? We think everyone we know and love is eternal and strong, and it takes something like this to realise how wrong we are. In no time at all, the world as we know it can change and some of those we love are no longer there.
Marvellous and touching story, I'm so glad your friend is healthy now. I bet he values every single day!
wow, a new heart, amazing what they can do these days. I am glad you got to see your friend, he was probably happy too. It is times like these that refresh ourselves to realize how precious our loved ones (friends or family) are to us. It has refreshed me by reading this post.
xx
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