This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  First, I want to thank all of you for all of your beautiful prayers and words of encouragement over the four and half months that I was in hospital.

Prayers came in from all over the world:

They started here in Seattle, Washington with my beautiful wife and my daughter, Olyvia (such a strength and help to Gina) and my son-in-law, Justin. My friends/extended family, Ralph and Kim, Chris and Fabi, Tony and Marcos, Brent and Jen and Austin. My incredible neighbors Deb and Lee.  My best friend Terry and his wife Vilma and Terry’s sister Rhonda. My wife's cousins, Robert and Jason and their spouses Jen and Roxanne and the kids Ava and Lex.  and their mom Elizabeth, a true prayer warrior, and was there when I came home making meals and doing much needed yard work.  My good Friend Pastor Matt and his wife.  My good friends James and Ellen and Gerry. All of the Veterans who I have met working for the VA. A special thanks to 00Morgan and her incredible family, as you all know Morgan was Gina’s eyes and ears for a long time and my special Angel.

My prayer warriors from work, Deb, Manu, Thomas, Kayla, David, another real brother who stayed in contact with Gina almost daily.  And all the Valor team that I worked with for over 10 years.

Prayers came in from my 2 eldest kids in San Diego Sean and Erin and their spouses Jen and Jud, and from my incredible, amazing 4 grandchildren. Paige, Declan, Ava and Liam.  When things were at their worst Sean and Erin flew up to Seattle in the middle of COVID to support Gina, and Erin came back 2 more times to sit with me in the hospital and give Gina needed downtime. From our good friend and Pastor Steve and his family.

Prayers and the gift of support came from my sister-in-law Kathy and Brother-in-law Ron.  They took time to get here to Seattle to help (emotional support) Gina.  Ron did jobs around the house that I could not do. Kathy would spend time with her mom.

Prayers from our friends in San Diego, Barb, Lila, Kathy, Alicia, Fred and all of their families. From my incredible Sister-in-law, Mary Ann who took time out to come up and be with Gina and was a constant source of support, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  She was able to stay here and be with her mom while Gina came to the hospital to be with me.

Prayers came in from New Zealand, my Aunt Maureen who is a Catholic Nun and her sisters all prayed for me daily.  

Prayers were lifted up from Ireland, my cousins and their families. Finola, Moya and Sylvia.

Prayers from the Vatican where my sister used to work.  All of her friends in religious life prayed daily.

Prayers could be heard in heaven from New York, my Aunt Bernadette, my cousin David, Brendan, Bernice.

Prayers from all along the eastern seaboard, Cousin Marie and all of her family. cousin Dermot and Susan. My Aunt Eileen and her family. My dearest friend Deb and her amazing family.

Prayers from Virginia Beach, my brother Edward and his clan lifted up prayers to heaven.  And as in only the way my little brother can, made me laugh so hard, and brought a smile to Gina’s face.

Prayers were like wild fire in Jacksonville, Florida, my two incredible and ferocious prayer warriors Patricia and Tina, their husbands Mark and Bill and my niece Christy and my nephew Ian. All of their church friends and acquaintances. They made a racket in the throne room with all of their prayers. And my sister Tricia put on a mask and got on a plane from Jacksonville, Fla to Seattle to be here to support Gina and to give her a break from sitting with me.  And she did that twice!

Prayers could be heard from Montana, my cousin Maureen and her Husband and their sons Padric and Brady. 

An incredible God-fearing man and his family in Colorado,  who I call brother.  Matt and his wife, Stephanie.

I am sure that I have left someone out, please do not be mad at me.  Remember many of these things that I have written were from after hearing Caring Bridge.  I know there were hundreds if not thousands of people standing in my corner, waiting for their turn to wrestle with God on my behalf.  I will never be able to say thank you enough.

At the beginning of this letter I said this was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and that is because I am humbled and brought to tears by the outpouring of love and care that I received from all of you.   As Gina said “God probably got tired of all those prayers coming in from all over the planet, and he finally said...Okay I will make  him well”

But, you all  need to know something very important, while all of you were praying for me, God was listening.  

I was unaware of my situation for many weeks, and it wasn’t until Gina read me the Caring Bridge entries, that I realized my tears were not for me but for my most precious and beautiful wife.  Gina stayed by my side and endured so much bad news on so many days she carried such a heavy load for so many months.  

Gina lived what I was going through every day and then came home and re-lived it again by writing it down on Caring Bridge.  Gina was my anchor in this storm, she was the one who wiped my brow, massaged my feet, and read to  me when I could not hear.  She made recordings for me to be played when she was not there, so that I could hear the voices of my wife, kids and grandkids and all of you who sent Marco Polos to her with messages for me.

Gina encouraged me when I was so weak and went through physical therapy and thought I was never going to leave the hospital, comforted me when I was not allowed to eat and I was starving.  She was the brightest part of my day when she would arrive at the hospital and the saddest part when she left at the end of the 12-14 hour day.

Gina became my caretaker and nursed me back to health when  I came home. She took me back to the hospital for all my required follow up visits.  And, I know it was exhausting to her and she did it with a smile every day and never let me feel as if I was a burden.

This journey that we all have been on was nothing as advertised.  Gina and I were told One week in ICU, one week on the medicine floor and one week in rehab and then home.  Well, it did not turn out quite the way we hoped.  Four and a half months or 131 days.

It has been over a year now that I received my miracle of new lungs and I look at every day as a blessing and a gift.  I thank all of you for being there for Gina, my family and me.  I thank God every day for the person who gave me these lungs and I pray for the family of my donor.

My adventure is not over yet, I am going back to work on Monday June 14th, I will be doing what I love so much.  I will be doing home health care and providing needed medical care to those entrusted to me.

It was because of all of you that I am here today.  My doctors did all they could do within the confines of medicine and when they were scratching their heads for answers, it was all of you that made them even more confused, when I started to get better because of your miracle.

So, I end this now with my favorite bible verse: John 15

“I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.

You have all been His branches, and because of your faithfulness I survived my transplant.  You have all made this miracle possible - one that I will never forget.

My love to all of you always.

Michael (Galvin Crab) Galvin.