The torch enters the arena for the 2012 Transplant Games in Grand Rapids, Mich. (photo by Janette McVey
It was an early summer morning, hot but not yet too hot. Perfect for a long bike ride. I glanced up, half asleep, to see my husband, Barry Fox, getting out of bed, knowing that as soon as he was dressed in his cycling gear he’d be snapping his helmet into place and slipping on his Oakleys. If I’d stayed awake, I likely would have heard the click as his shoes shifted into the clips on his pedals as he crossed the driveway and rode off.
A few hours later, the steamy sun now directly overhead, my anxiety grew with no Barry or bike in sight.
That moment and the many numbing ones that followed included conversations and phone calls with people I can barely remember now. One, though, from the Gift of Life was the reason I sat on an airplane in late July traveling with my two daughters to Grand Rapids, Mich.
We were headed to the national Transplant Games of America, a sports festival for athletes who have undergone transplants and a celebration for families whose loved ones became organ donors. The group clustered together on the airplane, all part of Team Philadelphia, was a blending of people. Some, like my daughters and I, have felt the agonizing pain of loss. Others, such as a heart transplant recipient from Philadelphia who sat nearby, have known the incredible joy of renewed life.
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{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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