We received a letter from the mother of your kidney recipient this week. This is such wonderful news to share! I am going to write back to her and ask if I can share her letter on your website and on our Facebook pages. Her son, Tarin was 18 years old when he received your right kidney, Nov 23, 2009. The recovery of your organs was completed on Nov 22, so he received your kidney the very next day. She wrote how they just celebrated 5 years of life for Tarin, and how they do something special for him on that date each year. She says it feels like a birthday celebration to her.
She expressed her gratitude to us for saying yes to donating your organs. Tarin is legally blind and has a rare condition called Retina Pigmentosa and Senior Loken Syndrome which doctors know very little about, this condition affects the kidneys. When they received the call to go to the hospital, it was Tarin’s 3rd time going to the hospital.
Tarin is the baby of his family with an older brother and sister. His grandparents are a big part of his life; he loves going to lunch with them and hanging out with them. He plays computer games, enjoys fishing and boating with his dad, swims in the family pool and helps with his niece and nephews. Sounds like a wonderful full life, with lots of joy and memories.
Tarin’s mom (Beckie) said she cannot get Tarin to write to us and is not sure why? I laughed at that comment, because it reminded me so much of your brother Daniel. I will let her know that it is okay, I am just glad to read that Tarin is doing so well, and is just being a normal young man going through life, growing older and staying healthy.
But even after all this wonderful news, one more surprise awaited us in the letter! Beckie’s maiden name is “Ellis”. When she read that your last name is “Ellis” she just cried and felt the LORD had a hand in taking care of her Tarin. How awesome is that information! What if we discover, that you saved the life of a distant family member from your Ellis family tree? How amazing that would be! She believes and I do also, that our connection together runs even deeper than the grace of your kidney saving the life of her son.
Hearing from a recipient family is rare. I have often envied those who have relationships with the recipients of their loved ones. And although I always professed to understand the complexities recipients faced regarding their ability to correspond with a donor family, it has taken me some time to accept this understanding and come to a place of peace within myself and knowing that such letters may never arrive. So indeed this letter was gratefully received and is truly treasured.
I am continually amazed at how things happen, so unexpectedly, such gifts that I continue to receive from GOD. Although you are no longer here on earth with me physically, you are with me at all times spiritually, and GOD continues to grant me many blessings through such great sorrow. The pain of losing you does not cease, the ache does not dull; only the duration and control become more manageable. With time it becomes easier to hide the tears, to close up the sorrow, to enfold the heart upon itself and bear the shattering of it within myself.
But today we celebrate and smile, we share and laugh, we give thanks and are filled with awe. You gave life to a young man 5 years ago and he is doing well. He is a blessing to his family. He is celebrated and cherished. Life is a little easier for him, he has other difficulties, but his kidney is not one of them, and that is wonderful news to read, and a blessing to be grateful for. Because you existed, because of you, a life was saved. As always and forever, I am blessed to call you my son.
Until we meet again, all my love Mother
She expressed her gratitude to us for saying yes to donating your organs. Tarin is legally blind and has a rare condition called Retina Pigmentosa and Senior Loken Syndrome which doctors know very little about, this condition affects the kidneys. When they received the call to go to the hospital, it was Tarin’s 3rd time going to the hospital.
Tarin is the baby of his family with an older brother and sister. His grandparents are a big part of his life; he loves going to lunch with them and hanging out with them. He plays computer games, enjoys fishing and boating with his dad, swims in the family pool and helps with his niece and nephews. Sounds like a wonderful full life, with lots of joy and memories.
Tarin’s mom (Beckie) said she cannot get Tarin to write to us and is not sure why? I laughed at that comment, because it reminded me so much of your brother Daniel. I will let her know that it is okay, I am just glad to read that Tarin is doing so well, and is just being a normal young man going through life, growing older and staying healthy.
But even after all this wonderful news, one more surprise awaited us in the letter! Beckie’s maiden name is “Ellis”. When she read that your last name is “Ellis” she just cried and felt the LORD had a hand in taking care of her Tarin. How awesome is that information! What if we discover, that you saved the life of a distant family member from your Ellis family tree? How amazing that would be! She believes and I do also, that our connection together runs even deeper than the grace of your kidney saving the life of her son.
Hearing from a recipient family is rare. I have often envied those who have relationships with the recipients of their loved ones. And although I always professed to understand the complexities recipients faced regarding their ability to correspond with a donor family, it has taken me some time to accept this understanding and come to a place of peace within myself and knowing that such letters may never arrive. So indeed this letter was gratefully received and is truly treasured.
I am continually amazed at how things happen, so unexpectedly, such gifts that I continue to receive from GOD. Although you are no longer here on earth with me physically, you are with me at all times spiritually, and GOD continues to grant me many blessings through such great sorrow. The pain of losing you does not cease, the ache does not dull; only the duration and control become more manageable. With time it becomes easier to hide the tears, to close up the sorrow, to enfold the heart upon itself and bear the shattering of it within myself.
But today we celebrate and smile, we share and laugh, we give thanks and are filled with awe. You gave life to a young man 5 years ago and he is doing well. He is a blessing to his family. He is celebrated and cherished. Life is a little easier for him, he has other difficulties, but his kidney is not one of them, and that is wonderful news to read, and a blessing to be grateful for. Because you existed, because of you, a life was saved. As always and forever, I am blessed to call you my son.
Until we meet again, all my love Mother
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