Fiber Arts Friday - Donor Quilts, Give So Others Can Live

Hello, my name is Andrea Morrison and I am the daughter of a lung transplant recipient.  This is how I introduce myself when I speak on behalf of the Gift of Life Michigan.  It's a label I am honored to wear.  There are many people who will never get to say that because their loved one wasn't able to get an organ donation but seven years ago, today, my father received the Gift of Life.

 2009 Southwest Michigan Kidney Walk Fundraiser

me, Holly Bishop and Sarah Boven

I am proud to be a volunteer for the Gift of Life Michigan and anytime and every time I can speak about organ donation I do.  Now I bet you are wondering what the Gift of Life has to do with Fiber Arts Friday and the answer is simple...but I am going to take my time explaining.  Today is March 26 and seven years ago today my family was blessed with the greatest gift we could ever receive.  My father received a bilateral double lung transplant because some amazing person had registered to be an organ donor.

Seven years ago, today, our lives changed.  You see, my dad didn't have much time left here with us.  The disease that had infected his lungs 25 years prior was finally taking a toll on his body.  He was wearing oxygen 24/7 at 6-8 liters (that's a lot) even at rest.  With the oxygen on, he could barely walk across a room without stopping to rest.  Once I had admitted my father to the emergency room and his oxygen had ran out before I could get him to the E.R.  He was in such bad shape that they admitted him before a man who was having a heart attack...he was in that much distress.

 My Dad, always promoting the Gift of Life Michigan...and my farm

Seven years ago, I gave my father a hug and kiss and said, "See you later" and sure enough then next morning there he was lying in bed with his brand new lungs and the most beautiful blue eyes that I had ever seen.  I had never really seen my Dad's eyes before.  They had been deprived of oxygen.  They were small and beady prior to the transplant.  His eyes were blue and beautiful and he was breathing with lungs that weren't full of scar tissue and disease.

Every day, even now, I am thankful for the donor and the donor's family for giving our family the Gift of Life.  Every day I want to tell that family what it meant to have 6 1/2 years extra years with my father.  For my children to have lasting memories of their Papa which included walks, swimming, piggy back rides along with bike rides and activities that only a healthy grandparent could do.  My children got to see a part of my father that I wasn't able to because his health had already been deteriorating by the time I was their age.  My childhood memories of him always included the hospital.

It wasn't rejection that ended my Dad's life, it was the infection that had been attacking his old lungs.  From what I understand, some of that disease remained in his blood and in his windpipe so when they attached the new lungs...a ticking bomb was waiting to erupt. Those lungs that were given to him were strong and made him strong.  He lived a life during those few years that was an impossible dream before he met Henry Ford Hospital's Transplant Team.  Every day...every day I say a prayer thanking the organ donor for the Gift of Life my father was given.

 2006 Transplant Games - Louisville, KY

My Dad and me

As a recipient daughter, I honor the memory of the person who's lungs saved my father's life by volunteering for the Gift of Life Michigan and promoting organ donation and being a registered organ donor.  There's another way that we honor the organ donors too.  It's the Donor Quilts which travel Michigan and the whole country.  Each square is made by the Donor's family.

The first time I ever saw a Donor Quilt...well it wasn't just one quilt, it was a room full of Donor Quilts and I was at the 2006 Transplant Games in Louisville, Kentucky.  I had went there as a Father's Day Gift for my Dad because he was an athlete on Team Michigan.  When I walked into that room the goose bumps on my arms went wild.  The love and honor along with cherished memories overwhelmed me as I walked from quilt to quilt looking at square after square.  Each square in memory of a donor.  Each square representing a person who had to leave this earth too early but had registered to be an organ donor.  A person who continues to live through the lives of the people he/she saved by being an organ donor.

If you ever happen upon one of these quilts, please take a moment and think about the impact of making a decision to be an organ donor has.  Organ and Tissue Donation saves so many lives and improves the quality of life for so many.  Each quilt square is a tribute to a loved one...

One of my father's last requests was that I contact the Gift of Life Michigan when he died.  Since he was in hospice, the protocol in different than in a hospital.  With his organs wasting away and the poison in his system there was no way his organs would be viable for donations but I made the call because he asked me to.  He wanted to help others.

He/we understood more than anyone the importance of Organ Donation and the Gift of Life.  It doesn't take but a moment to register to be an organ donor.  When you visit the Gift of Life Michigan website, they have a section specifically about the Donor Quilts.  Please visit.  April is Organ Donor Awareness Month.  These quilts will be displayed throughout the country.  If you happen upon one, say a thank you to the hero each square represents.

Well, as you can see my mind has been on more than just fiber arts today.  I have been busy knitting and spinning this week but today...well, today was about honoring my father and the Gift of Life.

Now I want to hear about all of your fiber arts adventures this week.
Please share you adventures in Fiber Arts!
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