There is not any other way to start this post except to again say that I AM BEYOND BLESSED, and God’s timing is ALWAYS perfect. While I am thankful everyday for the incredible gift that has been given to me, today is a day that reminded me of just how incredibly blessed and thankful I am.

Today I received a letter from the mother of my donor. There is a waiting period that must follow the transplant before we are able to contact the donor or recipient. It has been 1 year and 4 months, almost exactly to the day, since I was given the amazing opportunity to experience life in an entirely new way, and in some ways “start over”.I have prayed over this family daily since I was place on the transplant list in April of 2013. I have prayed that God would give them an overwhelming peace and comfort when the time came for me to receive their gift.

As I opened the envelop I was unsure of what was inside, it was sent from Mayo Clinic in a large packing envelope, and I was not expecting anything to be shipped from them recently. When I opened the folded papers inside, a handful of pictures fell out, and I knew what it was. I immediately put everything back inside and just sat on my bed and cried. I have wanted to know who had been the giver of such a life changing gift for me, but at the same time I am very emotional every time I think about the fact hat someone had to die in order for me to live as I do. After a few minutes I told Brandon what was inside the envelope, he asked if I was going to read it yet; I picked up the package and took the contents out once again.
As I began to read the most beautiful letter from another mother, emotions and hurt for that entire family consumed me. I knew my donor was very young, that is all of the information I was given the morning they called to tell me they had found a match.

Julianna was BEAUTIFUL and full of life, many things that she enjoyed are things that I enjoyed as a kid, and many that I still do. Her mother told of her love and devotion to Christ and is at peace knowing that she WILL see her daughter again. She was a fan of theatre, had starred in many performances at the local performing arts center, and was even cast as Tinkerbell in the production of Peter Pan after her passing. Tinkerbell was a shimmer of light and sound whenever Tinkerbell showed up. How amazing to still be part of such a huge production and still performing even after life on Earth. The face of both Julianna and her mother are eerily familiar to me. I recognized the face of Julianna as soon as the pictures fell from the folded envelope, and as I thumbed through the rest her mother became more and more familiar.

Julianna was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor and taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida where a sugury was scheduled for the next day to remove the tumor. The day after Julianna had gone through such a traumatic event, she had a massive stroke and lost all brain activity, this is when her life here on Earth ended and I was given the most amazing gift from a beautiful, selfless 14 year old girl, who had her whole life ahead of her.

Not a day goes by that I do not think of my donor and I now have a name and face to accompany my thoughts and prayers everyday. This family lost their youngest child, something that I could never imagine, and decided to let her live on by giving complete strangers the gift of life and health. I am eternally grateful and indebted to this family and Julianna.
THANK YOU ❤