The Gift of Life

    I am a believer in premonitions, gut feelings and signs from above. Yesterday, I was picking up around the house. Two times before 9:00 am, I found a dime and three pennies, one set on the kitchen counter and another in my bedroom. As always, I picked up the loose change and put it in my daughter’s piggy bank. As I was depositing the coins into the bank I thought to myself, “How strange to find the exact same amount in two different locations.” Then I suddenly remembered what the date was, August 13. Ten years ago on August 13, my brother received a heart transplant.

    While we have been celebrating the occasion and my brother’s continued good health, I can’t help but think about another family who is marking a very different kind of anniversary. My brother’s donor was a 17 year old young man. And while the donor family has wished to remain anonymous we continue to think about and pray for his family. My parents end every prayer before meals with “and God bless the donor and his family.”

    And so I like to think that the coins I found around the house were a sign from the donor. It was his way of checking in and acknowledging the day and the significance it held for our family and his.