DEAR PAIGE,
IT HAS BEEN A MONTH SINCE I RECEIVED THE GIFT OF YOUR DAUGHTER’S ORGAN DONATION. PLEASE ACCEPT MY DEEPEST SYMPATHIES FOR YOUR LOSS.
MY NAME IS FREDDIE AND I AM IN MY MIDFIFTIES AND MARRIED. BEFORE MY LUNG TRANSPLANT, I WAS UNABLE TO DO THE THINGS I’VE ALWAYS LOVED, SUCH AS RUNNING, GOLFING, AND TRAVELING. EVEN THE MOST BASIC OF TASKS HAD BECOME AN EXHAUSTING CHORE. GETTING DRESSED AND WALKING TO THE MAILBOX WERE TOO TAXING ON MY BODY.
I THOUGHT THERE WERE NO WORDS FOR WHAT THIS TRANSPLANT HAS GIVEN ME, BUT THERE IS. ONE WORD: LIFE. LIFE AND ALL IT ENCOMPASSES. I CAN NOW DO THE THINGS THAT I WAS INCAPABLE OF BEFORE. MY WIFE AND I JUST RELOCATED TO A DIFFERENT STATE AND BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE, A DREAM OF OURS FOR YEARS. IN THE SPRING, WE WILL CELEBRATE OUR THIRTIETH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY WITH AN EXTENDED TRIP TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. THE ITINERARY INCLUDES HIKING, SAILING, SNORKELING, AND PERHAPS EVEN SURFING LESSONS.
WITHOUT THE TRANSPLANT, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE FOR ME. EVERY BREATH I TAKE IS A TESTAMENT TO ASHLYN’S GENEROSITY, AND SHE AND YOUR FAMILY WILL ALWAYS BE CLOSE IN OUR HEARTS.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU AGAIN.
MOST SINCERELY,
FREDDIE