Unplanned Vacation Stop

They start their day just like we do. Sometimes they are really upbeat anticipating another of the little things. Maybe a grandchild just took some first steps. Maybe UPS was bringing an eagerly anticipated package today with a tool or a new cook book.

They get dressed like they always do. They start working through their task list like they always do. Right up until it happens the day is routine.

Less than a dozen hours later a complete stranger meets them for the first time. The stranger notices the little things like the fact they got a hair cut earlier in the day. Judging by the way they are dressed the stranger could speculate on what kind of a day they had planned, but speculation is all the stranger has.

The stranger's day was interrupted by them. It is the cause of another unplanned late night followed by an early morning. The stranger knows that tomorrow will be one of those days we all endure from time to them when we are running a quart low on sleep.

The stranger, however, doesn't mind. The hour and a half they had together started with intense focus on the task at hand and finishes right after the harvested organ is placed in the container for shipment. The stranger thanks them, right out loud, for the kindness and forethought that made the whole procedure possible. It's a thank you from the heart knowing that in less than 24 hours a completely different stranger will have the single most horrible nightmare of THEIR life end because of this precious gift that cost everything.

Unexpected, tragic, generous, loving. All at the same time.

As the stranger drives away they ponder the cloths, the hair cut, the unknown variables of appointments missed and the extremes of the family grief that will never be known. Powerful emotions that are held in a reservoir behind a dam of respect for this angel that had the presence to think of others before it was too late.

When real organ donation is witnessed it is a powerful, powerful thing. Perhaps a prayer of thanks for the giver would be a good use of your time right about now.