It’s been awhile and it’s a little lengthy, but you’re going to love this one…

I’ve always known and felt how absolutely blessed I am to have the family Greg and I have. Our kids, my mom and dad, Greg’s mom and dad, my siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles,nieces and nephews, friends etc. We are all tremendously important and impactful in one another’s lives and for that I am so grateful. 

I start with this because I have to tell you about the beginning of something extraordinary… the beginning of adding another family to the amazing love we already have. A family so full of faith, love, courage and selflessness. A family who took their tragedy and turned it into my/ our blessing. A family who decided in their deepest grief of loss to save me. To give me the opportunity to continue being a wife and mom, daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, Godmother, friend… and most recently, a grandma:)

❤️MY DONOR FAMILY❤️

Here’s how it goes …

January 18th, 2024

This is the day the most important invitation came my way. Around 2:00 in the afternoon, I received a text from my Donor’s sister. She and I had not connected at all prior, so this was already exciting! The open arms she led with in that text were very reminiscent of the love I feel every time I talk/text to my Donor mom… makes sense:)

In that text, she extended an invitation to her son‘s first birthday party to my family and me. The  party was going to be March 30th, and she asked if we would like to come and surprise her mom, brother and pretty much everyone… UMMMM WHAT?? SURPRISE THEM??? Yikes!

Doing my silent self talk that I’m so good at driving myself crazy with, I’m thinking, “this is not a good idea,”  “is this a good idea?” “No, this is too big, definitely not a good idea to surprise” “But she knows her mom, maybe this could work?”… etc, etc, etc…

Needless to say, we said yes and here’s where it gets fun:)

We flew into Indianapolis early on Friday and stayed right downtown(what a fun town btw)! We had a wonderful day exploring and mentally / emotionally preparing for meeting our family the next day. The kids kept asking how I was doing. I felt like I was doing well, although my stomach surely told me different…. 

I’m not the best nervous/ anxious person to be around as I tend towards quiet and a bit of irritability. I know this but can’t seem to fix that about myself… Greg and the kids were all amazing and circled me with patience and probably quite a few deep breaths:)

We headed to bed early in hopes of being well rested for the next day.

When I woke Saturday morning, I was excited and ready to meet the the people who made my world go round. We had a couple errands to run but after a few hours, it was finally time to head to the party…

Here we go …

As we pulled into the event space where the party was being held, I texted my Donor’s sister to let her know we had arrived. Within seconds she was outside greeting us with the most beautiful smile and energy. We embraced in a hug and as tears started welling up she pulled back, looked at me with that beautiful smile and said, “We are not doing this right now.” She took me by the hand and just like a sister, she took the lead and led me in to the party with my entire family in tow.

She led us into a room that was so full of life! There was a DJ playing, bouncy houses with children running all over, an abundance of food, but most notably, so many people everywhere laughing and loving their time together. It took us just a minute to find my Donor Mom. Her back was turned as she was refilling food like all moms do.:)

My Donor’s  sister placed me directly at her side when she tapped her mom on the shoulder. As my Donor Mom turned around, we were face-to-face for the very first time…

I was a bit clammy and shaky as I stood there holding my “sister’s” hand trying to control the tears, but it only took a second for my donor mom’s eyes to light up in recognition of who I was. There was no more trying to keep it together… 

When her eyes lit in recognition, she looked at me, opened her loving arms so wide so that I could walk in and break. She wrapped me up in a hug so raw, authentic and so powerfully healing as she said, “I love you so incredibly much.” 

So many times in the Bible it talks about the Lord’s open arms and walking into them as he shows us his grace, mercy and love… I wonder if the feeling is similar to what I had just experienced…

I love this woman. I love this family. We are forever tied and I am SO. INCREDIBLY. GRATEFUL.

The afternoon, progressed with friends and family lining up to talk to me, touch me, hug me, share stories with me. So many stories about the beauty of my Donor. So many stories of how she has touched each of these people in the room and beyond. I am blessed to have a part of this angel/hero. I am honored to be a part of this family and to have them all a part of mine.

I was proud to get a chance to introduce my family as well. To share the most important pieces of me with everyone and hope that they can feel the effect of their sister’s and their decision to donate life.

I pray our time together will help them continue to heal. I pray that seeing what they saved can cushion their grief even just a little. I wouldn’t be here without these people. So surreal…

I have big shoes to fill living in her honor. I think she and I would’ve been good friends. I think we would’ve really liked each other and that feels good:) She sounds like an extraordinary person, and I will live my life striving to meet those expectations.

We said goodbye after a couple hours, but it wasn’t really goodbye. It was a new beginning… the beginning of something so wonderfully special and we are all here for it!

I have attached a few pictures of our FAMILY and the time we spent together!

I’m just so grateful and happy😃

Absolutely extraordinary!

BLESSED BEYOND WORDS…