Christmas can be a real nest of tangled expectations, experiences and emotions. So many Christmas movies (not knocking them all!) stick to the same formula, the same stories even, suggesting we’re all looking for pretty much the same thing at this time of the year. Couldn’t be further from the truth.
Not going to untangle it here, just trying to tug on a few strands attached to gratitude. In the universe of organ transplants, gratitude will always have, in its deepest roots, awareness of the donors. In most, not all, cases, there are families whose pride at being able to help others may be wrapped in layers of loss that can make anniversaries, and special occasions like Christmas, more tearful than any Christmas movie. That’s what makes the gratitude even deeper for those who receive this gift of life. It is such a costly gift.
Anyone who has had a transplant, or loves someone who has, will be aware of gratitude to organ donors and their families, and for all those tiny things we walk past and take for granted…
To leave hospital again and go home.
To feel the fresh air, feel the rain and the wind.
To breathe, to feel, to see, to move, to think, to smile. To be.
To gaze into space with renewed wonder, to sense the energy in waves on the shore.
The gift of extra time with loved ones. For their company, their conversations, the holidays, the parties, the walks on the beach, the nights in, the smiles and laughter, hugs and kisses, promises and plans.
The fresh chances, opportunities, possibilities that pressing that reset button can bring to life, and to living fully in every second. Not frantically, or even busily, but fully, knowing the value of days, hours and minutes, that could have been very different, for everybody.
Gratitude that grows from the generosity of someone saying yes to organ donation, and from a whole web of others who play a part.
Amid the tangle and clutter of Christmas, over the next few days, we’ll make some space for thoughts of those who make this incredible world of organ donation such a wonderful opportunity, such a precious gift…