What a Yes Can Do
One year ago today, my friend Jeff checked into UNMC and donated one of his kidneys after testing to be a match.
To a stranger.
Not a cousin. Not a coworker. Someone whose name he still doesn’t know.
Mr. Jeff… aka the living donor writer of this blog.
Here is the part that gets me every time.
Jeff could have donated his kidney to me. He was a match. But the cross-match offered a second door. If Jeff gave to someone else, I would also receive a kidney from someone else, and two people would be helped instead of one.
Think about what that asks of a person. It is one thing to say, “I’ll help my friend.” It is another to say, “I’ll trust a stranger to help my friend, and I’ll help a stranger in return.” No guarantees. No names. Maybe a thank-you card one day. Maybe not.
That kind of yes is rare. And it is contagious.
Jeff wrote it all down: the surgery day, the walk home, the first day back at work, and the prayers behind every step. You can read the donor journey on his author page, and I hope you will.
What I did not expect was how much of my year he would give back to me. More energy than I had in a long time. Mornings I used to dread, now ordinary.
Somewhere out there, a person is celebrating a year too. They do not know Jeff’s name yet. But they are living inside a story he helped write.
Drop a stone in a pond and the ripples reach shores the stone never touches. That is the power of a yes. It doesn’t stay where it was spoken. It travels farther than Jeff will ever know.
***
Thank you, Jeff. For your yes. For your faith. For being the friend who shows up, whether I needed a chainsaw nearly a decade ago or a kidney a year ago.
This past year was a gift because of your decision. Had my kidneys continued to fail and dialysis remained my norm, the year would have looked different. Instead, I got a year of the ordinary days I once took for granted.
Happy donation anniversary, Mr. Jeff! You were the answer to a prayer, and you delivered it with a knock at my door.
Related Posts:
Why did I choose to donate?
Living Kidney Donor – Journal Entries
Not Left Standing
😍😊😊😊😊👍🙏