Yesterday was April 21, 2012. It was a busy day for me. I had lots of volunteering to do after a very busy week at work and other volunteering events. Last year I volunteered over 300 hours. This year my goal is 350 hours. I’m over 100 already. I’m a bit driven.
I spent the morning doing duties for my role as Community Lay Director for the Board of Brazos Valley Emmaus Community. I spent some time coaching a project for the Dell Social Innovation Challenge. In the afternoon I drove to Caldwell to support Walk 88 for the Walk to Emmaus where I am sponsoring a pilgrim. By about 10:30 p.m. I finally looked at my cell phone to see I had a message from my daughter.
“Hey mama bear! I called to say hi and to tell you I love you. And to talk with you on this important day.” Huh? What important day I thought? What is today? What did I forget?
“I thought you might want to talk about Jim and how you are feeling. Call me later if you can. I’m thinking about Jim.” It’s April 21st I realized. The fifth anniversary of Jim’s death. The day had passed without me even remembering that. Jim, my husband, whom I still think about and talk about all the time, died on April 21, 2007.
What a surprise. I was very busy, yes. But surely this is also a sign of how my grief is evolving. I’m turning a corner for sure.
And so, this morning, April 12, 2012, I decided it was really time to get back to my blog. For this journey, towards my future, towards helping others, is a tribute to Jim. A tribute to his life, to his impact on me, to give meaning to his death.
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I’m learning about blogging. First, it takes a commitment. Second, shorter makes it easier. Third, figure out a content calendar! Ha, ha! So all of the above is really just an introduction to the topic du jour.
What I really want to talk about
I belong to the Donate Life discussion group on Linked In. It’s a great group that discusses topics of interest about transplant and how to encourage organ donation. (By the way, this morning there are 114,045 waiting list candidates for organ donation. In more than 5 years, I have never seen that number go down.)
If you are interested in organ donation, I highly recommend this group. I learn and make great connections. It’s a great way to stay in touch about donor registration efforts. Some samples:
- A Call to Arms for Organ Donation
- Organ Donation Advocates Link Hands For Life
- Local families stress importance of organ donors
- Soprano sings about importance of organ donation
- Organ donor: Highest form humanitarianism
- Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson recognizes local Secretary of State office as top performer in organ donation registry
- Done Vida – Mitos.mpg
- New York State Unveils New Online Service to Increase Organ Donations
- How Michigan increased organ donation signups
- iPod video used to encourage organ donation
- Organ donation an act of love; Methodist honors those who saved lives
- WABC/Ch. 7’s Liz Cho goes into the OR to uncover tales of organ donors
And a special call out to Ursula Reeg who is relentless in her passion for organ donation!
Wendy J. Manuel 
Great resources. I am always proud of you, extraordinary woman / mother.
ditto.
This is a very cool site. I’m excited to read more! You are doing so much and are contributing so much! It’s very motivating to read.
Thank you Anna for encouraging me! I appreciate you so much.