acts of kindness and saving grace

My dear brother-in-law Charlie has had a rough five years health-wise. During this time, his kidney ailment had gotten to the point where he needed frequent, regular dialysis -- an unpleasant and disabling activity. He has maintained as much cheerfulness and as positive an attitude as humanly possible, but he was beginning to wear down of late. Several family members attempted to see if they could donate a kidney, as did his good friend, and things were close in one case, but factors resulted in this not being possible. This past week, he got the call. He was finally the recipient of a kidney match (after having some close possibilities for two years... tough to be #2 or #3 in line when you can see that the quality of your life could immediately improve.)

It has been a long, hard week, but Charlie is doing well now and things are looking positive. We are excited to go see him this weekend. He is such a good soul, I wish everyone could know him. His jokes are bad (but funny) and he is so bright and loving. He will kick anyone's butt in Scrabble and is a voracious reader. He is a special uncle to Matt. We are so lucky to have him, and now to have him fully back. He cannot wait to have an ice cream sundae with bananas... kidney issues restricted a lot of good things in his diet. 

We are all feeling deeply grateful to the donor and the donor's family for the gift of this organ that will give Charlie his life back. When I was younger, I was afraid of organ donation. I no longer am and have since changed my driver's license. When I go, if there are parts of this body that can help another family keep their "Chaz," it will be my privilege to help out. I hope anyone reading this will consider this as well. Things like transplants seem like far away concepts when we read about them in the news . . . until it hits close to home. Thank you, thank you, and thank you, dear donor and family.