July 16, 2008 - 8:35 PM: Pittsburgh, A Sad Good-by
Pittsburgh, A Sad Good-by
And so I returned to Connecticut this morning, happy to be heading home and sad that the USA Transplant games in Pittsburgh are over. For those of you who have followed along with us, you have Melissa to thank. If she and Jim had not surprised me at the opening ceremonies, it�s doubtful that I would have recorded much! By the way, I can tell you that it rates as one of the biggest surprises that I have ever had! I�m not sure that there are words to describe how it felt � maybe freakin� awesome! The time that Melissa and Jim and my good pal, Frank, were with me was priceless. Thank you for your undying friendship, Frank and please know, Melissa, how proud I am of you and how great it was to have Jim be with us this time. You guys are the best and I love you!
Since the story has been spun of the �08 Transplant games, I figure I owe it to my journal to bring it to a proper close with the events as they happened and the deep emotion that went along with it. How special it was to see my little friend, Jordan from Team Pittsburgh! He�s now 14. He is the little boy I became buddies with in Louisville. He received his heart transplant at the age of 2. I ran into him with his whole family as they were setting up for the opening ceremonies on Saturday night. It was an emotional reunion for myself and for his family. His dad is about 6�4�. I thought he would crush my hand he was shaking it so hard! �We were so worried that you wouldn�t be here!� He kept thanking me over and over explaining that Jordan has been looking forward to our reunion for a long time. I was only able to absorb a few minutes of this before I had to disappear to regain my composure. Jordan�s father explained to me that the day will come when he will need a second heart transplant. I have always known and feared that this would be true. It was an overwhelming feeling to be reunited with so many other friends I had made at the games in Louisville. Each time someone remembered me, I would feel a rush of emotion. The swimming events and the shot put and discus were a lot of the same people � some new faces for sure and other faces had not returned. You can�t help but wonder. These transplant games are like an extended family for sure and for me it continues to grow. I know Melissa informed you all of my new friend, Ann from Team Rocky Mountain. With a little coaching, she won herself a silver medal in the discus. My coach Dave�s technique and advice was easy to pass along to her. You would have thought she had won the Kentucky Derby. She was a kidney recipient. Her donor was hit by a car while biking. She actually saw it on the news! Meeting and getting to know Kimberly a little was also something that I will never forget! Myself, I came in 4th place in the discus throw, missing a second bronze medal by just a few feet! I could not have been happier that I finished 4th! You see, the person who pushed me out of the 3rd spot is a new friend. His name is Kevin. His nickname is Cutter from Team Virginia � a US Marine who flew helicopters in Viet Nam � a big handsome guy. He received a liver transplant and as it happens to be, they had only recently come to know his- donor mom and dad and sister. Cutter had their son�s liver. It was unbelievably the most fascinating thing for me to watch this all unfold and to make a new friend. He took the medal that he won and presented it to his donor�s father. OMG, it was unbelievable! I thought my knees would give out and if you can believe it, they were all apologizing to me that he beat me out! I told them all I would not have had it any other way and the script was pre-written for this wonderful man to kick my butt! How proud he was and how proud I was of him! Big gulp here! The stories go on and on � they�re especially hard for me this year. There were several situations that I was directly involved with where transplant athletes were being supported by their donor families. I couldn�t help but try to feel that I was a part of their celebration. Maybe that time will come for me someday and maybe not. I have said this many times before. I am so fortunate and I am so grateful for this strong heart that was given to me by the most wonderful donor, person and family on the face of the earth. I would expect no less that for all recipients to feel equal to this.
The closing ceremonies were at the University of Pittsburgh. My guess was 4,000 people. The auditorium was filled from the floor to the rafters. I had 3 personal missions last night. I succeeded at two of them. True to form for me, I left my teammates and wandered around. I was looking for Jordan. I had a small duffle bag full of gifts for him � things I had brought from home. And even though I�m half blind, I am as persistent as they come! By some stroke of luck, I spotted his father in a sea of Team Pittsburgh yellow shirts. They were rows away from where I was. I cocked my arm like a quarterback and his big dad stood up and smiled motioning to me � give it your best shot! I uncorked a touchdown pass and his old man snagged it! Jordan was jumping up and down and laughing. I touched my heart and sent them both a kiss! Next was my pal, Ann from Team Rocky Mountain. We were supposed to exchange emails. I never got the opportunity to do this. I struck out! Last but not least was my new swimming friend, Kimberly from Team Illinois. Kimberly is 42 � a very small girl � not so much short as just very thin and in need of a little bulk. She is the one that Melissa explained about at the pool. With all of the experiences of the four years that I waited and all of the people I have followed, I�m not sure I have ever seen such a small framed person with such a huge amount of persistence and determination and an undying desire to compete and to swim 50 meters, 2 lengths or 1 lap � it�s all the same! I have seen so many seemingly more courageous people who didn�t have half the mustard of this woman. She appeared to me to be walking pretty unsteady, about the same as I was maybe three weeks after transplant but she is over a year out. I can honestly tell you it�s the biggest inspiration I can remember in a long, long time. And so I looked for Kimberly � around and around this giant auditorium � up and down the aisles � back and forth � all the while the closing ceremonies are proceeding so I gave up and I figured I�d head outside to the 100 or so buses that were parked and waiting. I stopped at a concession for a bottle of water. It�s so funny � they said three bucks and I thought to myself � what a crock. Three bucks for water and then I figured, three is the number that makes the world go round. As I stood there drinking the water, a Team Illinois shirt appeared from the auditorium. I stood and watched as he got some stuff. Of course he knows by my shirt that I�m Team Connecticut! I asked if she was with their team tonight. He thought he knew who she was. I asked if he would take me back to where their team was seated. He gladly did this and introduced me to their team manager. Is all she did was smile. Apparently she knew who I was! She pointed where Kimberly was sitting. As I approached the aisle she was in, all of her teammates stood up and moved like a sea of orange shirts parting. I was actually able to sit down next to her and with all the noise and commotion of the ceremonies, she hadn�t noticed! I had something for her, something that was special, something I had given a lot of thought to � is this the right thing and how do I present this? In a few moments she noticed me. She smiled and became emotional. Well, and don�t think that I didn�t! We talked about how the end of the games went for both of us. I�m not sure that she did much else. I knew that the feeling would have to be right for me to present her with what I had. We exchanged emails. A few minutes passed. I looked her straight in the eye and asked if she would do me a favor. She smiled, Sure! I told her that she had inspired me and I told her that I would be honored if she would share with me the bronze medal I had won. She absolutely broke down with emotion. With her face in her hands she was trembling. I thought to myself, now you�ve done it! He heart�s going to fall right out of her chest! I put my hand on her shoulder and told her I was not trying to make her sad. We both sat and swallowed for awhile. I looked at her again and I asked again � will you share this medal with me? I would be honored! Her face lit up with a smile and she said yes. May I put this on you? I took it off myself and put it over her head. Her entire team had their eyes on us. All I could see were her teammates smiling, sobbing and giving me the thumbs up! I hugged her and said to her, please promise me that you will take care of yourself and that I will see you again in 2 years. I asked her again � you promise? She said, I promise you! I hugged her one last time and I left. Walking away, one of her teammates hollered, hey Team Connecticut! When I looked his way he said, nice job! Thank you! In 54 years and 8 months I have been alive, I don�t know that I ever felt the way that I did as I walked away. My insides were singing and I was so pleased and so proud that I had that foolish little bronze circle attached to a ribbon and that I could give it to someone who deserved it light years more than me. I will never ever, ever forget that feeling! It was so strong and it felt so right.
In closing I will tell you one last thing, I did something before going to sleep that I don�t remember doing since I was a little boy. I knelt down at the edge of the bed � I put my hands together and I thanked God for all that I have in my life � for this powerful strong heart � for being able to feel such deep emotion for my family and all of my good friends. I prayed that Jordan will be the same little boy in 2 years. I asked God to please make things easy for Kimberly. Thanks to all of you who are always there for me. You guys rock!
Hey, in two years, guess where I�m going? Madison, Wisconsin! USA Transplant games 2010 � a good reason to stay alive! Ain�t no quit here � not now � not ever! Lambeau Field, anyone?
Sincerely to all of you,
Your friend, George
Please know with every molecule and every drop of blood � every inch of tissue � every pound of the bones in my body and the fire in my soul THAT I DO LOVE YOU BOSTON GIRL!
P.S.
Our lives are full of moments � the moment that you were born � the moment that you die. I have experienced the first and have felt or have seen the second. Take the time in your life to experience and embellish and rejoice and revel in the special moments of your life because in the wisp of a feather they�ll be gone.