Sunday, November 18, 2012
(Copied from Monkey's blog) Four years ago today Monkey received her gift of life. Her liver
transplant came just a few days after her daddy had gone through all of
the testing to become her living donor. In that time, a family was
faced with the choice of letting their little one save other lives and
they said yes. We are very much aware of how important and how
difficult their decision must have been. I cannot sit here and say that
I know how they felt that day, and still feel today on the 4 year
anniversary of their loss, because I do not. I hope to never know what
it is like to lose a child and to be faced with the decision they were
faced with in 2008. I can say that I look at Monkey every day and even
though we know nothing really about her donor, I see him in her every
day. I see the gift that we have been given. I see the time, hope,
love, and happiness we have been given. We have been truly blessed by
our donor angel and his family. We continue to teach Monkey (and her
sister) about love, support, and the true meaning of selflessness. I
have to say, however, that I have learned so very much from Monkey in
these 4 short years. She has taught me the true meaning of compassion.
Her heart is so very big and so very open. She has so much love to
give and gives it freely. It is hard to imagine that she may not be
here today without her new liver. We always try to tell new liver
families that we meet that Monkey is not the typical liver baby. She
really never has been. As I look back over the posts I made in the
weeks leading up to Monkey's diagnosis I am amazed at how much her little
body fought the terrible disease she had. She even responded to
medicines that were not even designed to treat her specific liver
disease. She never really cried or fussed about how uncomfortable she
was. These trends carry through to the little girl she is becoming.
She gets sick, but never complains about it really. She is one of the
strongest little girls I have ever seen. She loves her sister with all
of her heart even if they get on each others nerves. She loves her
grandparents, her dog, her kitty, and misses her Pop more than
anything. All of these things we wouldn't see had it not been for her
donor angel. We love him and truly hope that his family knows exactly
how much we appreciate and love them as well. We honor their loved one
in how we teach Ember to care for and to love others and in how we will
continue to teach her about her gift and the true meaning of sacrifice.
We hope that the legacy we leave behind for her donor angel will be
felt and heard by many and everyone who comes into contact with her will
learn from her. Even if it is in a very small way, even at 4 years old
she has so very much to teach us. We are so blessed to have her in our
lives.
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