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Evergreen [Change Location]

Blog Entry 87 of 210 From the mountains to 6th Avenue
Many Evergreeners commute. It's been described as a commuter community. Accurate. So there is an etiquette to commuting. The first rule: Leave early. Even if you depart for a 9 to five job at 6:30 a.m., you will not be alone. If you like being alone on the highway, go to Montana. The second rule: Leave early If you don't get off til 5 p.m., take a book on tape, because you will be sitting in traffic near Federal and 6th, and entertainment of any kind is helpful. There are polite drivers, like me, who let others sneak in, especially in merge lanes. I try. You probably do too. The one thing I have decided that will not happen to me is that I will not be mangled in a car wreck on 6th Avenue or I-70 in either direction. What do you do to keep this promise to yourself?

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~karentgrovesblog

Organ donation

Article Contributed on: 9/18/2006 7:47:44 AM

A friend of mine lost her sister suddenly. What I think beyond the sadness and the grief and anger that accompanies loss, is that the sister left a legacy of life.

Through organ donation, her death will help others live. According to my friend, the term at the hospital is "harvesting the organs." Also tissue.

My friend wasn't sure how many people would be saved, helped or granted a longer life through her sister's gift, but the family felt good about it. They felt like it was a way to honor her, and say goodbye on her terms.

It's not as easy as just checking a little box on your driver's license though.
The sister's entire mental and physical history had to be documented, and at a time when the family was under great duress. This can't be easy.

But they did it anyway, knowing it's what she would have wanted.

It seems the ultimate gift.

Here is a site with more information than I would have, and a place to register as a donor:
http://www.coloradodonorregistry.org/

Another side effect of this tragedy is that it reminded me how delicate and tenuous our time is here. It reminds me to be sure and tell my family I love them and reinforces my decree to everybody at home to say goodbye when you leave the house, even if you're only going to walk the dog around the block.

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Steve Ferkau wrote on 9/18/2006 @ 10:49:53 AM

Hi Karen, Your friend and her sister and their family are heroes to so many of us... And Karen, you are also a hero in the eyes of a lot of people waiting, and a lot of us who have waited -- You're spreading the word. Can you even imagine what has happened through the action your friend's sister and her family has taken? There may be one, maybe two people breathing better than they have in years -- maybe better than they have forever... There is probably someone whose heart is beating steadly for the first time in a decade... Two people are likely off the torture of dialysis, and one of them my no longer be diabetic... Someone may be seeing the face of a loved one that had only been a memory for years, or maybe seeing a child or grandchild for the first time ever... Someone may be waking up from a coma with a new liver and hugging a spouse or child who thought they might never hug them again. See part II
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