Births and Deaths
I've got two hours to go before I leave work and get ready for the funeral of a man I never met. He is the ex-husband of a good friend of mine, C, and the ex-brother in law of another good friend of mine, P.

R. had a heart defect for the whole of his 45 years. It worked backwards from everyone else, so the fact he was #1 on the Transplant List was little consolation, since any available heart also had to match R.'s in some way. That happened last Wednesday. His beeper went off, and the race was on. From all accounts, things were going fine after the operation. His legs, previously a dusky shade of purple from lack of adequate circulation, pinked right up. Kidney and liver functions seemed promising.

Then I went home for the long weekend.

All hell broke loose.

I have yet to hear the details, but R. passed away on Good Friday.

On Saturday, my cousin D., pregnant with twins fron IVF, lost the sight in her left eye. She happened to already have been admitted for bedrest, since her tiny little frame was having a hard time hosting two wee girls. They CAT-scanned her, and found an aneurism. Sedation and an emergency C-section followed. There wasn't enough room at the hospital she was at, so they ushered little M. and M. to another hospital. She has not seen her kids yet. She's in the I.C.U. with her Mom, my Aunt. Her Husband, S., goes back and forth from Wife to Kids. The rest of us wait for intermittant phone updates from my other aunt, The Messenger.

Geez.

My ears are ringing from all the stress, and I'm not really involved in any of it. I feel a migraine coming on. I'm on a steady stream of Excedrin to keep me loose (and slightly medicated, let's be honest).

R. makes me grateful that I have my health, for the most part.

D. is a wonderful example to me of someone who wanted something so badly, she was willing to go through procedures and operations to make it happen.

Please say a prayer for her to come through and have an opportunity to raise her girls.

Please say another prayer for R. He can rest now.

Posted at 10:07 a.m.