After my painful divorce, I was sure that I would never get into another romantic relationship. I had decided that it wasn’t worth the risk. My son, Wyatt, told me that I was too young to give up on finding happiness. He convinced me that my life wasn’t over. I should at least be open to the possibility of finding a nice man who could be my friend.
He helped me set up a profile on a dating site for older people. My first date was with a man who had posted a forty-year-old photo of himself. He was looking for a live in nurse… I was not ready for that!
I decided to take the initiative and do my own search. I found a photo of man who immediately caught my interest. I had always liked long hair on a man, and his rugged looks appealed to me. There was something in his eyes. Like me, Ed had lost a loving spouse. I had remarried too quickly and that was a mistake, but I remembered what it was like to be with someone who returned your love.
Ed made it clear that he didn’t have a fortune to spend during his retirement… his late wife’s medical bills had wiped out his savings. He wasn’t superficial. I liked him immediately. We met at a coffee shop. My first thought was that he looked like Jesus, but without a beard. It was the easiest first date I’d ever had. I cut the date short because I was not feeling well. I was soon to face a serious illness head on.
He took me to a vegan restaurant on our first date. I loved the fact that he also wanted to eat a healthy diet. That night we both felt like we had known each other forever. I left for a month-long trip to Boulder the following week. I was going to visit Wyatt, who was pursuing a doctorate in environmental engineering at C.U. The distance didn’t keep us apart. We emailed each other every day. We were falling in love the old-fashioned way. I remembered reading books about medieval courtship. The knight and his lady kept in touch through letters, no matter how far apart they were from one another.
When I finally got home, there were a dozen roses waiting for me. The note enclosed said “I love you.” I felt like a young girl getting her first kiss. I had ended up in the hospital while I was in Boulder. I had been suffering from liver disease for years, but now my situation was deteriorating rapidly. I had come down with hepatitis C years ago, and it was affecting my cognitive functions. That was why I had been involved in an accident… and it was why I had fallen down a flight of stairs while in Boulder.
I truly believe his coming into my life was a gift from God. I had been seeing a physician at a liver clinic and had been told that I was too old to qualify for a liver transplant. They were sure that I had a heart condition, diabetes, or some other ailment associated with people my age. They never took into account that I’d been using Ayurvedic medicine for years, and that I followed a plant based diet. I looked and felt a lot younger than my chronological age.
Ed knew about a wonderful medical center that had treated his late wife. They specialized in liver diseases. I had picked up my hepatitis C from a blood transfusion… his late wife had gotten it from a bone marrow transplant. My first visit there renewed my hope. They told me that a new medication for hepatitis C was available. My disease was cured in a few weeks. It thrills me to know that people with hepatitis C can now be cured … it is a miserable, progressive disease to live with.
I soon learned that the disease had, indeed, deteriorated my liver so badly that I would need a liver transplant. I became very conscious of the fact that every day of life is precious gift that we must never take for granted. We must be grateful for every breath we take. I had to endure a series of uncomfortable tests to determine my eligibility for a transplant. At that point, I began to pray for the person whose death would help me stay alive. I wanted that person’s mission on earth to be realized before they left this planet.
I had a painful and frightening two-year battle as I waited for the transplant to happen. The first attempt at a transplant ended just fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled surgery. It turned out that the person who had been taken off life support had not yet died. I learned that if a person does not pass away within an hour of the time, they are removed from life support, their organs would no longer be useful.
I was disappointed. But all I could think about was the family sitting by the side of their loved one, waiting for his last breath. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. A few weeks later, I received another call from the transplant center. I knew in my heart that this would be the day I got a new lease on life. I called Ed immediately, and he started driving toward the transplant center. Suddenly he shouted, “Oh my God! “
A car had turned in front of him at the intersection. The car had a bumper sticker that read “Save a Life. Be an Organ Donor.” This happened on March 30, 2016. I received my liver transplant that evening. My invitation to anyone facing a challenge is to visit me at my website, MindPowerJournal.com and watch the inspiring four-minute video.
Never give up, and you may see a miracle in your life, too.