1. Today I received a text from Mary L. She had had lunch with her friend Christy. Christy received a kidney transplant back in June. Mary told me Christy was interested in getting in touch with me so we could get acquainted and talk about transplantation. That happened today. We became Facebook friends and we communicated back and forth over the internet. I learned that Christy's nephew's wife donated a kidney to Christy, a marvelous development. Like me, Christy had had some other live donors come forward, but, as in my case, all them were over sixty years old and Sacred Heart doesn't accept donors this old.
Christy also told me about a private Facebook group, "Transplant Buddies and Friends". I submitted a request to join this group, was accepted, and spent time this afternoon reading stories and answers to questions, all focused on people's experiences with transplantation. Reading these accounts gave me an especially clear look into life after a transplant and helped me see more clearly than ever the transplant recipient's vulnerability to illness and the vigilance required to stay on top of things like taking medications and drinking plenty of water.
2. I also had a very good text exchange with the Deke. We haven't worked out the details, but it's possible we'll see each other sooner than we thought we would when the Deke departed on Sunday. We have spent a lot of time over the last six or seven years putting everything on the table and working things out: my retirement, our move to Maryland, our move to Kellogg, the remodeling of our house, and the Deke taking the job she's now working at in Eugene. We need to return to the table and look at the future, near and far. It made me very happy today that as we texted back and forth we simultaneously realized that it's time to return to the table and that we might do this sooner than later.
3. It was a quiet night in uptown Kellogg tonight. After watching a little over half of Gonzaga's blow out win over Cal State-Bakersfield over at Christy and Everett's, I went to the Inland Lounge and the friends I thought I'd be meeting at the Elks were all in there, watching the end of the Zag game and getting ready to go across the street to the Elks. I stayed at the Lounge a little longer than my friends and yakked with Cas and strolled over to the Elks Club. Things were pretty quiet. Last year, and for a handful of previous years, New Year's Eve at the Elks was a lively event, with lots and lots of people out to socialize and dance to Jake and Carol Lee and Alan's band, Remember When. But, Alan lives in Arizona now. Remember When didn't play. Instead, a couple played music over a sound system and not many people attended. It was fun being with my friends and, as is the tradition on New Year's Eve at the Elks, we welcomed in the new year on Eastern Standard Time. Not long after wishing one another a Happy New Year, we headed back over to the Lounge and I returned home before midnight.
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