Archive for the ‘Organ Donation’ Category
Sunday, April 22nd, 2012
It is still Organ Donation Month. I am re-running “The Legacy.” This is a poem written from the perspective of a donor to his or her family. It is intended as words of comfort to the family, and as a tribute to both donor and the family.
Donate Life: Your life will go on living!
The Legacy
I loved my life and had great plans
for dreams I would pursue.
I loved to learn and loved to work –
so much for me to do.
*
But plans and dreams - it always seems –
are subject to delay,
for life can bring surprises
that take us from our way.
*
I didn’t mean to leave so soon;
so much was left undone.
We always think that later’s there:
it comes with every sun.
*
I wanted to accomplish much –
perhaps do something great.
And though I have now moved along,
I’ve learned it’s not too late.
*
My family loved me very much,
and taught me well to share.
And I am able yet to give,
though I am not there.
*
There is a special part of me
that helps someone to live.
I’ve done something great, you see:
I found a way to give.
*
So a part of me still sees the sun,
in a different way.
My legacy gives life, you see,
each and every day.
*
So mourn me not, my family:
my spirit’s still in you.
The lesson that you taught so well
gives work I love to do.
*
I’m grateful I can help someone:
I’ve left a legacy
so someone else can yet live on
with some help from me.
*
The work I do now helps to hold
a family together.
Keep the memory of my gift
in your hearts forever.
*
I hope that you find comfort
in my memory:
the work I do helps someone live –
my greatest legacy.
*
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2009-2012. All rights reserved.
Any copying or other use of this poem without express written permission is prohibited.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", gift, gifts, gratitude, legacies, love, organ donation, organ transplants, picture poems, poem, poems, poetry, poetry to honor deceased person, tribute poem
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Thursday, April 12th, 2012
It’s Poetry Month and Organ Donation Month, all at once! Be a donor! Be a writer! Be a reader!
Here is “Have A Heart,” originally written for a young man who underwent his second heart transplant at age 20 (the first was as an infant), and a kidney transplant, also at age 20. And he’s doing great! Steve Jobs was an organ recipient. And former VP Dick Cheney is now a heart recipient. Be an organ donor! And write or read a poem!
Have A Heart
*
Sometimes life can break a heart –
it cannot stand the strain.
But no one lives a life, we know,
that does not have some pain.
*
But I have seen the frantic eyes
of mothers in their tears –
overwhelmed by life itself,
overwhelmed with fears –
fearing that the kids they love
will live but months, not years.
*
And I have heard the quiet prayers
of fathers in the dark
asking God to give their sons
just one more healthy heart.
*
I have seen the heartache
of a husband for his wife,
who needs a healthy kidney
so she can can have her life.
*
There are so many children,
so many broken hearts,
needing just a little help –
perhaps a few spare parts.
*
Your gift can save a mom or dad
or help a child survive.
You can mend a broken heart
and keep someone alive.
*
There are so many people
who are just like me
whose lives might well be mended
and you might hold the key.
*
I’m not asking for a favor;
I’m just looking for a friend
who wants to help another life
reach its destined end.
*
Your life can keep on giving
even when you’re gone.
You will go on living
as someone else lives on.
You see, there are so many lives
that you can help to mend.
Be a gift. Have a heart.
Be the one to save a life:
your life will live again.
*
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2009-2012. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: I am not an organ recipient, and I hope I never have to be one. But, for all of us, it’s good to know that the medical technology and skills are there if we need it. And, it’s good to know that there are donors too!
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "Have a Heart", "heart transplant", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", Health, heirlooms, kidney donation, organ donation, picture poems, poem, poems, poetry
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Sunday, April 1st, 2012
“So Hope Will Live”
This poem was written as a thank you from an organ recipient to his or her donor and donor family. It is called “So Hope Will Live.” It can be etched with room for a photograph. See it in the Store. Disclaimer: I am not an organ recipient, but I know someone who is, and his gratitude, as you can imagine, is eternal, as is his family’s. We all hope that we will never need the gift of an organ, but it is sure nice to know that if we do, there are donors and families who care, and there are medical professionals who have the skills and the caring to facilitate the donation. And sad as it is that someone needs a donor, and sad as it is that the donor is often a deceased young person, the gift of life joins two families.
So Hope Will Live
*
We are strangers now a family,
forever joined – not by choice –
but joined by need and joined by pain:
a cry for love, a cry for life,
so hope will live, eternally,
born of saddest irony.
Life will never be the same –
not for you and not for me.
One you love – who shares your name –
now is gone, but I remain:
a second chance, a new domain –
a gift of life that lives in me,
strangers now a family.
*
A part of you now lives in me,
and we are joined like family –
not in blood and not in name,
different, yes, and yet the same –
joined in cause and common voice –
knowing that there is a choice
to donate life to someone else
so they may live their life again.
May each life be for all
a light ahead in driving rain.
*
Your gift has given life to me –
a gift of love, born of pain;
joined by science, joined by fate –
a bond that bridges life and death –
a bond of love, a bond of pain –
a sad and strange irony –
a gift of life now given me,
and strangers now a family,
burdens borne with different names.
*
Know that I am grateful
for the life you gave to me.
May my life give you light
wherever you may be.
And may my life bring comfort
from the pain that hurts you so:
we are strangers now a family,
wherever we may go.
And may the life that lives in me
shine the light so all can see
that life goes on ironically
when we choose to donate life,
so hope will live eternally.
*
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2009-2012. All rights reserved.
Donate Life!
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "gift of life", "organ transplant", family, gift, gifts, Health, heirlooms, legacies, love, organ donation poem, picture poems, poetry, poetry to honor deceased person, So Hope Will Live, transplant
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Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
So Hope Will Live (Part IV of IV)
Today we conclude So Hope Will Live. This is Part IV.
Boston College has a motto: “Ever to Excel.” It is adopted from Homer’s Iliad.
It is a great motto for a great university and for all of us,
because it encapsulates a pursuit that all of us should undertake.
Steve Jobs pursued excellence and his legacy will long remain so long as others do the same. And he was allowed to continue his pursuit of excellence even after a devastating diagnosis because of the intelligence and talents of medical professionals, and because of the generous gift of life from an organ donor.
As I said earlier, this poem was not written with Steve Jobs in mind, but it might express his sense of gratitude to his donor. We do know that while he was alive, he did thank his donor. This poem is written from the perspective of a recipient to his or her donor and family. Two families are now bonded in a way like no other.
Strangers are indeed now a family.
Donate Life. Your Life Will Go on Living.
So Hope Will Live Part IV of IV
Know that I am grateful
for the life you gave to me.
May my life give you light
wherever you might be.
And may my life bring comfort
from the pain that hurts you so;
we are strangers now a family,
wherever we may go.
And may the life that lives in me
shine a light so all can see
that life goes on, ironically,
when we choose to donate life,
so hope will live, eternally.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All rights reserved.
P.S. I have not yet read Walter Isaacson’s book entitled, simply, Steve Jobs, but I intend to.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", Donors of life, inspiration, legacies, love, organ donation, picture poems, poetry to honor deceased person, poetry to honor organ donor, So Hope Will Live, Thank you to organ donor and family
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Friday, October 14th, 2011
The tributes to this remarkable man continue all over the internet. The following poem was not written with Steve Jobs in mind, but it might reflect the gratitude he felt for his donor.
Below you will see Part III of “So Hope Will Live.”
Donate Life! Be an organ donor.
So Hope Will Live (Part III of IV)
Your gift has given life to me –
a gift of love, born of pain –
joined by science, joined by fate -
a bond that bridges life and death –
a bond of love; a bond of pain -
a sad and strange irony –
a gift of life now given me,
and strangers now a family,
burdens borne with different names.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All Rights Reserved.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", "the power of words", gift, gifts, Health, heirlooms, inspiration, organ donation, picture poems, poems, poetry, poetry to honor deceased person
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Monday, October 10th, 2011
This is Part II of a poem called “So Hope Will Live,” which was written last year. It was not written with Steve Jobs in mind, but it is a poem written from the perspective of an organ recipient who is alive because of someone else’s gift. Donate Life: Your life will go on living. www.donatelife.org.
Part II of “So Hope Will Live:”
A part of you now lives in me
and we are joined like family –
not in blood and not in name,
different, yes, but yet the same –
joined in cause and common voice –
knowing that there is a choice
to donate life to someone else
so they may live their life again.
May each life be for all
a light ahead in driving rain.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All rights reserved.
Also, give to JDRF. For the children.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", Commemoration, extraordinary, gift, gifts, Health, heirlooms, legacies, memorial poetry, picture poems, poems, poetry, Steve Jobs
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Friday, October 7th, 2011
Far too young.
Steve Jobs lost his battle with pancreatic cancer this week.
But remember that without a donated liver, he would likely have lost his battle several years ago.
The world lost one of its best a couple of days ago. Lost in the outpouring of accolades for a genius committed to excellence is the fact that he outlived his life expectancy. He was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer years ago, but most who have heard that diagnosis have only months to live. How did Steve Jobs survive so long? In part because he received a liver from an organ donor a couple of years ago. He thanked his donor in one of his speeches, and acknowledged that he was alive because of that generous gift. I did a poem last year entitled “So Hope Will Live,” written from the perspective of a recipient and serving as a “thank you” to organ donors and their families. The poem was not written with Steve Jobs in mind, but it might express his sentiments. Here is Part I of that poem:
So Hope Will Live (Part I)
We are strangers now a family,
forever joined – not by choice –
but joined by need and joined by pain:
different lives, but common voice –
a cry for love, a cry for life,
so hope will live, eternally,
born of saddest irony.
Life will never be the same –
not for you and not for me:
One you love – who shares your name –
now is gone, but I remain:
a second chance, a new domain –
a gift of life, that lives in me;
we are strangers now a family.
Copyright 20010-2011 All rights reserved. Daniel Mark Extrom.
Be an organ donor: www.donatelife.org.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", gift, gifts, organ donation, organ recipient, picture poems, poem, poems, poetry, Steve Jobs
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Thursday, April 21st, 2011
Donate Life!
This poem is a bit late as it is now April 21, 2011. But it’s not too late to be an organ donor. Let your family know your wishes. Go to www.DonateLife.org. Sign up. Your life will go on living, even when you’re gone. There is no greater gift.
The Legacy
A dedication from a donor to his or her own family
and to the recipient
I loved my life and had great plans
for dreams I would pursue.
I loved to learn and loved to work –
so much for me to do.
But plans and dreams – it always seems -
are subject to delay,
for life can bring surprises
that take us from our way.
(more…)
Tags: "a gift of life", "donate life", "gift of life", "It's the life thing to do.", "Legacy donate life". "organ donors", "my greatest legacy", "organ donor", "organ transplant", "The Legacy", "the life thing to do", donate, inspiration, organ donation, picture poems, poems, poetry
Posted in Family-Children, Health, Love and Family, Organ Donation | 2 Comments »