The Gift of a Kidney

Earlier this month, our eldest daughter Jo posted this blog:

Sometime this year (and I can't recall exactly when), I found out that our dear family friend needed a kidney.  He was diagnosed with Alports syndrome and while he is maintaining... his kidney function is dramatically reduced. His brother has the same syndrome and received a new kidney almost 2 years ago.  A new kidney means a new life.  I had thought about being tested over 2 years ago... but didn't. Looking back, I'm not sure I can figure out why I didn't... just, that I didn't.  But when I found out that another kidney would be needed, I felt a strong "calling" that I needed to be tested.

What started as a call to my doctor turned into calls to the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, which turned into a call to Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, who finally told me that in order to find out if I was a match, I would need to contact the hospital in St. Louis, contacting the recipients doctors.
They sent me a packet and instructed me to find a lab that would do a courtesy blood draw and then I would fed-ex the package back to BJH.  After being told "no, we don't do that"... I contacted a friend who worked for University Hospital. My friend put me in touch with exactly the right people! Not only did they do the courtesy blood draw, but they also did the second round of tests as well.

I received a call on a Wednesday that I was a match for my friend. The nurse told me that our blood "lives in harmony together" and that I was a 2 out of 6 match.  I remember crying and feeling so happy! Second only to that news was being able to call my friend and tell him.  The best part was that we were all planning to be together in two weeks for my sister's wedding.

I have described this "calling" as something like this:  Women who give birth, have children, give OF themselves and MORE than themselves constantly.  It becomes part of who they are... this giving of more... something beyond themselves.  Not having had children, I haven't HAD to do that.  I feel like in some small way, this is a chance for me to experience that level of giving.  Even if it actually doesn't happen for some reason... I have a small taste of giving something bigger than myself.  This opportunity makes warms my soul and touches something deep.

stay tuned...



Back to Mary writing:
Now we are past the middle of the month of October and the next step will soon be taking place.  I wanted to share some family photos from Carla's wedding, when almost all of the entire family gathered in support of Carla & Delvin.  Kelly's wife, Elizabeth, was on call that weekend and couldn't come..but the 3 sons, 2 of their wives, and their 6 children, as well as their parents, Mike and  Phyllis.  Uncle Mike officiated at the wedding,  and Aunt Phyllis contributed gift bags for the out-of-town guests staying overnight at the camp.  It was a family gathering, indeed, and it was a very special time for Pat and Jo to talk about what was ahead of them.


On the left is Pat, who needs a new kidney, holding the youngest person at the wedding, his niece, Alice (who belongs to the youngest brother, Tim, seated at the right.  Tim received a new kidney nearly two years ago this December and is thriving. In the middle is the eldest, Kelly, with one of his sons.

As the end of the month approaches, Jo flies to St. Louis to undergo the final battery of tests at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.  Carla (aka Mrs. Rowlett!) will be with Jo,  as well as Aunt Phyllis.  We covet your prayers for everyone involved and you will be hearing more.

Shady Bluff Retreat time

Last year we purchased the empty lot to our north, put a front fence on it (per the Property Owners Association) and it is now a parking place for our Rv when it is at home.  This month, we completed the purchase of the two lots on the south side of our house, had it cleared, and rejoice in the knowledge that many of those dangerous cedars and underbrush are GONE.  Now to the landscaping - it has some huge rocks in it, and we found a lovely buckeye bush which can now get some sun and we look forward to seeing how it develops.  Plus when we return in early October, this will be the location of a neighborhood cook-out and a time to get acquainted.  So we are most pleased with our expansion!

We enjoyed a wonderful evening at Tejas Rodeo in Bulverde, joined by Jo & Scott, as well as the Price family from Springfield (Mike is our surrogate son, you know!)  We danced to the Western Swing music of our good friend, Jody Nix (from Big Spring TX!) and had a ball.  Now we know where that is, we look forward to going back there this fall.

Ever since we moved to Wimberley we have heard about the Salt Lick at Driftwood, and its marvelous barbeque.  The rumors weren't kidding!  Jo & I joined the Prices for our first visit..can't you almost smell it looking at that photo?  Jo and I are sitting with our "son" Mike Price.  How fun to have them visiting this part of the country--all because their daughter and her husband live in San Antonio...and we love it that Mere & Ben are so close.

Other highlights of our time at home included a couple of visit with our friend, Marvin, at his ranch on the Blanco River...a gorgeous spot, and particularly because it does have water in it this summer.  Marvin has a great swimming hole, and a very special spot to hang out.  Last week daughter Jo had a small art showing at their neighborhood Starbucks entitled "Double Exposure"--we are so proud of her photography skills and her creativity.  She is doing shoots from San Diego to Colorado Springs to Washington DC...and also gave her a first-hand very frightening experience of being in the Waldo Canyon Fire in CoSprings the end of June.  She created a video of the fire from her perspective, which was posted on her Facebook page.

And now its time to hit the road once again.  The RV is packed, and as soon as the sun gets out of our way, we will hook up the Escape to tow, and in the morning we will head north--destination will be Kansas City for the wedding of our youngest daughter, Carla, to Delvin Rowlett on August 25th.  And believe me, you will be hearing more about that!

Biking the Katy Trail in Missouri

The month of June was spent in Missouri on a totally new adventure for us - biking.  Our starting experience was on the Katy Trail.  This was formerly a railroad line which ran across the state of Missouri from east to west, and has been converted into a wonderful bike trail with no hills, and super for these novices - while the pros seem to enjoy it as well (that's because they tend to bike the entire trail of 250 miles...while we beginners do short spurts of 5-10 miles at a time!)  The scenery was gorgeous.  The sections we selected were ones that were mostly with shade-covered trails.  We found some great local cafes, breweries, whatever, along the trail that made it all worthwhile.  Pat, Jerry and I even amazed ourselves.  The only thing that didn't cooperate much was the hot temps, and there were some days when we simply knew we had to stay at the campground rather than bike in that heat.  We look forward to our next trip to bike on the Katy Trail!