Big gifts come in tiny packages.
We’ve never met you and know very little about you, nor are we allowed to for the next year. What we do know is that you are a healthy 23 year-old man from somewhere in the United States. You have been through half a dozen tests over the course of the past several months all to confirm you are indeed the best match for Idan. Indeed, you are a 10/10 match and even have Idan’s blood type. Your world has just collided with ours, and we must thank you for sending Idan the gift of life.
Around midnight last night, your stem cells arrived in two tiny packages, both labeled with Idan’s name. When the nurses came into the room and showed us your cells to verify that the name on the packages was Idan’s, I felt a feeling that mothers rarely get to feel twice. Seeing those tiny packages felt exactly like the feeling that rushed over me the moment Idan was first brought into my arms on the day he was born. He was a newborn then, and in many ways he is a newborn now. The gift of seeing your child’s future and all the hope it promised is the most wonderful gift you can receive.
Although the road ahead is long and will most undoubtedly be bumpy, the fact remains that you showed the most selfless kindness possible from a complete stranger. Whoever you are, wherever you are, thank you. Thank you for giving our child a second chance at health and longevity. Thank you for saving his life.
So beautifully said, perhaps if we all post and share, it will somehow miraculously reach the donor thrgh the twists of fate and 6 degrees of separation. People who are donors are true heroes and we should at least take the opportunity to tell people what it means to give and receive this very selfless gift.
Xoxo
I couldn’t agree more!
Can I share on fb?
Yes, of course.
I am in tears. This is beautiful.
So in tears right now! You are so brave and so strong! Thank you to the young man who gave Idan a second chance at life. What a wonderful gift to give someone!
You write so beautifully, Amanda. The video of the transplant moved me to tears. All I could think of was the miracle of life, happening in another way. A perfect stranger’s cells, being infused into a sleeping baby, to give him a renewed life of good health. What a mitzvah.
Beautifully spoken, Amanda! God works in mysterious and glorious ways…this is definitley witnessing , first hand, the the love he feels for us! May God bless Idan’s donor, richly and lovingly throughout the rest of his life! Love & Hugs, Becky
Thanks all! I do hope this note finds its way to Idan’s donor, and to all donors out there who selflessly choose to give a piece of themselves in the hopes of saving another person’s life. For those who are interested in donating and joining the bone marrow registry, two great organizations are Gift of Life and Be the Match. Their websites are http://www.giftoflife.org and http://www.bethematch.org, respectively.
~ Amanda
What a wonderful message. I am sure that the donor is full of pride for the special gift. I have been a member of the Bone Marrow registry and have only been a partial match twice. The excitement of potentially being a donor was overwhelming and I hope someday I can be a match for someone. Donations are a gift for the donor as well.