Dear Lyla,
Thanksgiving has come and gone and as we indulge in leftovers, card games and the Christmas music that we are finally allowed to play in the house (Daddy is a stickler on this particular point), it seems fitting to reflect upon those things for which we are thankful. In the past few letters I have alluded to the things I am most grateful for, family, friends, good health; just to name a few. However, this Thanksgiving I am thankful for the gift of love given by a woman whom I have never met and whose name I do not know. You are too young to understand the full impact of the injury that I sustained right before your birthday last June; all you know is that Mommy’s knee was hurt and two surgeries were needed to make it better. You were a trooper this summer as I was laid up on the couch, not able to take you to the pool, park or the zoo; the reassurance that I would be off my “crunches” and walking by Thanksgiving was all the reassurance you required. We are all thankful for the skills of the two surgeons that operated on my leg; they were truly two of the most patient, kind and skilled women I have ever met. But I am also thankful for the woman who made it possible for me to live a normal life again through the gift of tissue donation. You see little one, this Thanksgiving there is a family who is grieving the loss of their loved one; a forty-two year old woman who will not be seated at her family’s table this year. She, along with her family, decided to give the ultimate gift in the face of unspeakable sadness and pain; to donate organs and tissues people like me who are in need. I do not know any characteristics about the woman whose ACL now lives inside of me other than her age. I do not know if she was a wife or mother, what her profession was or any of her dreams. I do know, however, that she must have been deeply loved by many people. Who else but someone that is desperately loved would have the courage to consider the gift of life and ambulation to others in the off-chance that she would leave this earth far too young. So tonight little one, when we say our prayers let us also say a prayer for her and her family. Let us pray that they find peace and comfort in the knowledge that in death she helped so many. Through the gift of renewed health our family has been given a precious treasure and it is our intention to honor that sacrifice daily; in every step Mommy takes, in each set of stairs that are climbed and in routine tasks that have been previously taken for granted. To the woman who gave the gift of life to so many strangers we humbly and sincerely say “Thank You.”
Letters To Lyla 