Happy heavenly 22!

The day Connor was born, we were awake for hours. He was due August 1st and was born at 2am, on August 1st. He was never one to wait around.

He was a happy, silly kid with a big heart and beautiful eyes. Dressed in full denim, people would comment at what a pretty girl he was! I’m thinking it was those eyes. They sparkled with laughter in addition to mischief.

Each year for his special day, we would decorate our home. There were streamers and balloons everywhere. He woke up to a party. Dear Lord, what had we taught him?!  Unconditional love with lots of confetti and he loved every minute of his birthdays!

Reflecting back to good memories can bring joy. It has taken time to pull out the good and see the gifts through loss. ? If you have good thoughts, they shine like a light, radiating through your face.

October 18, 2014, I received an excited call from Connor about 2pm. He was telling me about a man he had met walking through his college town. He always spoke to strangers. Somehow he missed that lesson. 🙂 The man was walking across the USA and had been in the military.  He asked me to look him up on line and read his story. He was always gifting me information regarding people’s journeys.

At 10pm that same night, an unexpected moment, the phone call every parent fears, combined the weight of a lifetime, as the words, “we did all we could”, struck our ears.

The next day we found ourselves at home, filled with caring people. Sadly to admit, it was a blur of kindness. Someone handed me my cell phone and I was told it was an urgent call from the hospital. I remember thinking maybe this had been a bad dream and someone was calling to say he was okay. Fleeting hope.

Connor had signed his organ donor card and they wanted our approval to proceed. I spent the next hour on the phone agreeing to terms I really didn’t care to hear about. I knew that our son would have wanted me to do this for him. He saw an extraordinary life in an ordinary world and loved to help people.

The gift. Light rays enter the eye through the cornea, the clear front “window” of the eye. The cornea’s refractive power bends the light rays in such a way that they pass freely through the pupil, the opening in the center of the iris, through which light enters the eye.

Grief clouds the ability to see clearly. One year had passed and at Christmas we received a letter from the recipient of our son’s cornea’s. This person explained that they could now see to play with and care for their son that was seven. Connor’s eyes, were used to give light to others, both during his life and after! His gift allowed another person to be able to see!  Oh how happy we were to know this!

I’ve been told, “at the end of the day, it is what it is!” I say to you, it IS what YOU make it! How we respond to what happens to us determines who we are, nothing more. God granted us pain so that through grace we can shine for Him.

One thousand eighteen days on his 22nd birthday. Did you catch the significance in this number? 10-18 was the day he left and TODAY we are 1,018 days closer to seeing him again!

Happy heavenly birthday to Connor!  Our gift that keeps on giving.

Peace & Blessings,  Mama C

For our light and temporary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs our troubles. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

If you are a recipient of an organ donor, please contact the family to let them  know your story.  Give those who gave the gift of knowing you!