I Will Live Forever by Robert Test

I Will Live Forever

by Robert Test

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital; busily occupied with the living and the dying. 

At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped. 

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine.  And don't call this my deathbed.  Let it be called the bed of life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead longer lives. 

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman. 

Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain. 

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play. 

Give my kidneys to the one who depends on a machine to exist wee to week. 

Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk. 

Explore every corner of my brain. 

Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window. 

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow. 

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weakness and all prejudice against my fellow man.

Give my sins to the devil.  Give my soul to God.

If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. 

Poem by Robert Test

Crockpot Mexican Chicken with cream cheese

Food has always been a part of my life, but now it's become something other than just getting something on the table.  My boyfriend Steve and I cook together most of the time.  That's something that my ex-husband and I rarely did, so it kind of made cooking a chore.  Steve and I look up recipes, talk about them and stand in the kitchen together creating them.  He's got a huge list of potential dinner ideas from all of the dishes we have made together this past year.  If we find something interesting that neither one of us has made before, it doesn't matter!  We forge ahead anyway.  We are comfort food people, not necessarily adventurers when it comes to our dinners.  We make things like salisbury steak, pork chops with grilled onions, meatloaf, flatbread pizzas, leafy green salads chock full of veggies and kielbasa and sauerkraut.   Steve has introduced me to Vietnamese and Thai food (when we go out to eat) and I have introduced him to high quality bacon, for the best BLTs at home!  It's win win, that's for sure, and we have such a good time.

Some of the things we find that we'd like to try are of a quantity that's too much for just the two of us, so the potlucks that we go to each month are the times when we pull out the crowd pleasing meals.  Usually, these crowd sized recipes are untried -- yes, yes, we experiment on our friends.

At our latest potluck we made it a Mexican theme.  I am a fan of Mexican food, but I don't like anything hot, so I have to carefully order my food at restaurants.  No hot stuff, no salsa either.  My goal for our potluck was to make something that had  great flavor, tasted like it came from a Mexican kitchen and would still be stove hot and tasty when everyone finally got ready to eat.  If you want something to stay hot for a potluck, it's gotta be made in a crockpot.

My Mexican food repertoire includes chips and cheese, chicken nachos, chicken taquitos and tacos.  Not really innovative or exciting, right?

What does a girl do when she's short on talent?

Google!

Pinterest!

I searched both for "Mexican crockpot meal" and only found a few that fit my no-hot-stuff, no-salsa requirements.  The one I ultimately chose seemed really iffy for some reason.  I couldn't quite put my finger on what I thought was wrong with it, but I was just sure it was going to be bad.

This is real good news to all of you that have stayed with me this far into my ramblings, huh?!

As I mentioned earlier, I do tend to bring brand new, never been tested recipes to potluck.  Thankfully I have only had one fail in all the years, but I was positive this was going to be fail number two.

In actuality, we were lucky to bring home any at all!

I got a little carried away with the sour cream in this photo! This is the way we ate the leftovers - sort of a deconstructed nacho.  Chips, lettuce, sour cream and the crockpot chicken.

Mexican Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts, boneless/skinless
1 (15 oz) can Black Beans, drained
1 (7 oz) can Green Chiles, chopped
2 (15 oz) cans Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz) can Corn, drained
1 (6 oz) can Sliced Black Olives, drained
1 yellow Onion, chopped (about a cup)
1/2 an envelope Taco Seasoning
8 oz Cream Cheese, cubed

***Now that we've made this a few dozen times we have altered the recipe.  Now we add these -- an additional 15 oz can of black beans, an additional 8 oz can of corn (or frozen), a 20 oz can of chopped green chilies instead of 7oz and 4 more ounces of cream cheese.  We also use additional taco seasoning to taste.

***We have decided to make our own taco seasoning instead of using the prepared envelopes.  2 Tablespoons of taco seasoning = one envelope of store bought (1 1/2 oz)  I will have to post the recipe to the taco mix.  I'll link to it when I get it written.



Now the hard part
Put all ingredients into the crockpot, except the cream cheese.
Turn on crockpot.
4-6 hours on High or 8 hours on Low.

I decided after seeing this photo that we needed to add in another can of diced tomatoes. (It's now reflected in the recipe)  The dish needs just a bit more color.

When chicken is tender, take out of the crockpot and shred.  Add back to pot and add in the cream cheese.  Cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Stir well and serve over rice or quinoa OR serve with tortillas OR serve with tortilla chips.


We used already cooked and shredded chicken, as I had cooked up a bunch the day before in my pressure cooker.  So I added in some homemade frozen turkey stock cubes that I had in the freezer to make up for the lost liquids in already cooked chicken.  I'm sure a 1/4 cup of chicken or vegetable stock would be fine, too.  Since my chicken was already cooked and shredded, I was able to avoid the "burn your hands shredding the chicken" step in the recipe!  It was still full of flavor and tender.

I didn't realize there were so many choices of diced tomatoes, when we went to pick out a can at the store.  I chose the fire roasted diced tomatoes and they gave a nice flavor to the dish, but I'm sure any kind you like will work well.


The dish was a hit and I will make it again.  I might even make it just for us and freeze half of it.  We liked it best as deconstructed nachos with our crispy tortilla chips.  At potluck we served it with corn tortillas so it could be an entire gluten free meal for our GF friends.

Thanks for joining me!
Have a wonderful day!
Kristin

A new start

I am nearly to the end of my current journey.  I believe I did all that I could in my marriage and now with it nearly finished, there is a beginning on the horizon.

If you haven't read the first two parts of the three part series click the following links... Unrecognizable Part 1, Part 2.

© Kristin Corlett

It came over me like a fog, penetrating every fiber of my being, but so quietly that I didn't have any idea until I was completely overcome.  My time spent with Steve, the man I took to Dialysis three times a week, the grocery store trips, the hours of laughing and telling stories... he became my closest friend.   I realized that the moment I made the decision to leave my marriage was when that fog began rolling in.  All of the spaces that I was clearing out were being filled again.  The fog was love.  When I finally realized I had fallen in love with Steve it was like I had been pushed over a cliff.  It was a total free fall.

I didn't want to end one relationship just to dive into another.  No, no no!  It went against everything I thought I wanted.  I needed time to grieve, to let go, to live alone again.  I needed my own space for the first time in 18 years.  What in the world was I going to do?

What can a person do when they have indeed found the love of their life??

I decided I needed to create a plan of action.

I have dinner with Steve most evenings, but I don't spend the night.  Some days we do spend most of the day together, but that is rare.  Personally, I need to get everything closed up - the house emptied and sold, the divorce signed and sealed and over, my own condo into a livable, working space.  I have projects that I want to do, need to do and have to do.  I am going to need to get a job at some point soon.  Even though I have fallen head over heels in love with Steve, we are creating enough space so I can breathe, grieve and spread my wings.  For awhile there I cried every day.  Divorce is emotional, even if you are the one wanting it.

Steve gets to have breathing room, too.  He's been a single man for quite awhile and having a loud, giggling woman in his life is quite the adjustment.

I am truly unrecognizable from the woman I was a year ago.  She was so sad, that I actually hate to admit that it was me.  I can't even remember how many times I found myself with my head in my hands wishing for a more love filled life.  That's really all I wanted.  I wanted to love someone and have them visibly, emotionally and physically love me back.  My dear Tom couldn't and wouldn't do that.  He could say he loved me and he didn't want me to leave but that was the end of what he could give me.  I'm so grateful I followed my heart and moved on.

Source - “The Super Kiss,” by Puerto Rican artist Daniel Irizarri Oquendo

I don't want to bore you with too much intimate information, but I can tell you that this gal is now getting kissed a lot and she's loving it!  It might be because it's a new relationship, but I don't think so.  I think that the fella she fell in love with is a kisser and the gal he fell in love with is a kisser and together they are...silly.

And we hold hands.

A lot.

We are indeed silly, giggling, loving people and we found each other in the midst of chaos.

Oh and did I mention?  Steve received his Kidney transplant April 5th.  He spent four days in the hospital and has been getting better and better and better each day.  No more dialysis.  No more, no more.  I call him my Superman.

A new start, indeed.

A new start for us both.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Unrecognizable

tylerknott.com

My life is almost unrecognizable from the way it was just a year ago.
Sure I do a lot of the same things, but I am very different.

Last year I was trying to bolster myself up so I could ask my husband for a divorce.  

Last year I was getting my antique booth up and running so I might have some money coming in.

Last year I was scared that once again, I would push the idea of divorce out of my mind and go on pretending to be happy. 

Last year I said yes to my friend, Steve, and told him that I would be his caregiver.  He lived alone and needed someone who would help him get to and from dialysis three times a week and be there for him for appointments, doctor visits and ultimately be his caregiver full time (for a few weeks) when he got the call to get his kidney transplant.  This full time role could be years away.  We were told 3 to 5 years.

Last year I was bone weary, emotionally drained, walking through my days praying something good would happen so I could hold on to that feeling to make it until the next day.  

Last year the thought of blogging was so overwhelming that I had to quit.

Last year the thought of taking a picture was mind numbing.

Last year walking into my house every day without my kitty there to greet me was just heartbreaking. 

I seriously felt that everything in my life was sad.  Even volunteering to take Steve to dialysis was sad.  He was usually happy and upbeat when I picked him up to take him to dialysis but by the time I got back a few hours later the dialysis had literally drained him, gave him a headache and he rarely ever felt decent again until the next day.  

It was actually the weekly trips (Tue, Thur and Sat) picking up Steve, taking him to D (as we called it) and then coming back an hour or so before he got unhooked from the dialysis machine, that got me living again.  They say if you can't help yourself then you can help someone else and that will in turn help you.  Well, I decided to listen to whoever THEY is!  I decided that if we had to go through 3 to 5 YEARS of dialysis, I couldn't be heartbroken every single time I dropped him off and picked him up.  I had to make it the best experience possible for both of us.  I had to make the day worth it.  So I just started being my goofy self, I laughed as much as possible, we talked about happy things, I asked questions about Steve's life and teased him about those things later (I love to tease!) and he responded with fun and laughter, too.   It was a light, a big, huge, giant light!  D days were still a bit depressing, but it was almost always a nice time together and I believe Steve got stronger and so did I during that time.

Found on Pinterest - unknown origin

I went on an adventure in August (leaving Steve in the capable hands of our transplant community who shuttled him back and forth while I was gone.)  I once again went up the East Coast and spent a few weeks with friends.  My friend Bob, who I've talked about quite a bit on here, is one of my best friends.  She and I are quite a pair and we always have a good time together.  She needed help getting her house cleaned out so she could put it on the market and I spent two weeks or more maybe with her and we played a little and packed and sorted and had a garage sale and stuff.  We talked and watched Downton Abbey Seasons One and Two and laughed and cried.  It was another incredible adventure.  More light was coming in to make me stronger.

I spent a week in Amish country with my friend Lynn.  She had set up a transplant recipient reunion at her place, so I helped in the final few days before the event.  It was so great to have so many friends from around the country come to the reunion.  My transplant community is my home, I've come to realize that more and more.  I love being a part of it.  I think a spotlight is now shining on me by this time.

I went home to Michigan in October for two weeks.  Home.  I always love being home, but this time I had so much hope for myself that I knew I had it in me to change my life.  It was this trip home that gave me the thinking time without any pressure.  I cried a million tears that trip.  It's funny how coming home can do that.  

To be continued...

Kristin

New Year - Let's stir it up a bit.

Happy New Year!

I had a friend from Pennsylvania staying with me for a few days over the New Year holidays.  She was itching to warm her feet from the snowy PA weather and thankfully, after a few days, Jacksonville did warm up a bit.

We went to Jacksonville Beach one afternoon, the tide was moving out making the sand hard packed and easy for strolling and shell collecting.

The seagulls were enjoying the weather by just hanging out by the waters edge.  Along came this young boy determined to walk right into the flock.   It was quite a hoot when they all (except this fella in front) started squawking and taking flight!  The boy was startled for a moment, but quickly enjoyed the happenings all around him.

*Please click to enlarge the photos

I'm a lot like that boy this year.  I'm determined to stir it up a bit this year.  I have a list a mile long of all the things I'd like to do, the things I'd like to start back up again (photography and blogging being two of those things) and new projects I want to tackle.  I want to expand my antique business, paint more furniture and get my name out there.

My goal for The Goat this year, 2013, is to blog at least once a week.  I think I can probably dip my feet into the water that much in the beginning and hopefully by the middle of the year, I'll be able to add in a couple more days a week.

One of my very favorite messages that I've received from The Universe (www.tut.com) is how I'm going to end this post.

In all things, always and forever, simply wish the best for all involved, without stating what you think that is. And then, whatever does happen, no matter what happens, know that it was.  All the best,      The Universe

Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!  

It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragments finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!

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I didn't put a tree this year.  I love my Christmas tree and I love going through each and every ornament, but I go through this every couple of years and I just can't begin to put up the tree.  I have a set of lights on the windows and I have the stockings hanging as well as a few other decorations, but not the full blown decorating thing.

I'm not even Bah-Humbug!  I am loaded with Christmas Spirit, just not the tree.

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I have this little Mexican clay Nativity set that I love, but I do something funny each year.  Sometimes I don't notice until I put everything away after Christmas, but today I made it my photo of the day and so I noticed right away, but after editing.  I rarely get the Joseph figure in the correct spot.  Usually I put one of the Wisemen thereby mistake because he has this red heart looking box in his arms.  I arranged my Nativity scene, took all of the photos I needed to pick out a good photo of the day, edited the photos, picked my favorite and added it to my 365 Photo Project calendar.  Then I saw it.  No Joseph.  One Wiseman.  Too funny.

 

 

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Our transplant community is having a Christmas Day dinner.  This has been going on longer than I've been a part of the community, but it's so nice that I'm now more involved.  I did make a suggestion this year and asked that the organizers listen to me -- I didn't like the food that we'd been served for the past few years -- so I asked if a few of us could make the side dishes and the organization could spring for the meat and dessert.  Thankfully everyone agreed.  Now I'm petrified that we won't have enough food.  I just found out that we will have almost 50 people.  I'll be a busy bee cooking Christmas morning!

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I teased my husband when I got home yesterday afternoon that I could tell he was super busy because the dishes hadn't been done and the overflowing trash was still there.  He never does those jobs anyway and I truly was just teasing.  I went and took a nap, due to a short sleeping night, and when I got up he had done the dishes, taken out the trash and was at the store buying groceries for the week.  I love those types of surprises. 

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That's Tom and I just last week on Grand Cayman.  

Pretend that the water is a gorgeous blue because it truly was!!

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Today - 23 December 2011 - is the six year anniversary of my husband's liver transplant.  What a blessing and what a Christmas gift it was for both of us. We have truly been blessed as Tom has really had very few complications since his transplant and is living a much happier life.  He's still a grumpy guy, but those times come far less than they did pre transplant. :o)   Who knew that one of the darkest times of our lives came to be the beginning of the happiest years of my life.

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I hope that you are enjoying Hanukkah or Christmas or the Solstice or whatever it is that you celebrate this time of year.  I also hope that you stop by Mrs. 4444's place for more Friday Fragments!

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Small B

POTD - Small B

©2011 Kristin Corlett

My friend Bettyann received a liver transplant three weeks ago.  She always said in our group introductions that she was looking for a small B liver.  After her transplant someone brought her a bee balloon in honor of her small B.  Our dear Bettyann is a short little thing and our friends Mark and Steve thought it might be funny to get down to her size!

Mark has been waiting for a liver transplant at Mayo since December, Bettyann got her transplant three weeks ago (after waiting 7 months) and Steve got a kidney transplant 17 years ago and then  he needed a liver & kidney transplant 9 years ago.   It takes all kinds to make our group work.  These three are just a few of the key members of this years group.  (Thanks you all for letting me feature you as the photo of the day!)

Enjoy!
Kristin

POTD - Banded

POTD - Banded

©2011 Kristin Corlett

It's always great when the photo of the day is a friend going in for a liver transplant! She has been waiting at Mayo about 8 months and the call came for her today and she was out of surgery before midnight. I saw her just 12 hours after her surgery and she already had a healthy glow.  Someone gave the gift of life by donating their organs.  Who knows how many lives they helped save this week by this selfless gift.  You can give the gift of life too - www.donatelife.net for more information.

Enjoy!
Kristin

An evening creekside

One of our very dear friends, Maggie,  was playing keyboard tonight with a couple of her talented friends at a restaurant in St. Augustine.  She's a part of our support group, so it's nice when they play locally so we can go see her play.

She had a liver transplant almost two years ago and now she's back to doing what she loves - playing music. 

She's one of the shining stars in our group and she shines on stage, too!

Creekside Restaurant's outdoor patio overlooks a lovely little water spot. 

The marsh grass is so pretty.  I just love looking at it.  The Photo of the Day in the morning will be a shot of the grass.  That dock doesn't look so tempting to me, but if it were a bit sturdier, I'd love to stand out there for awhile and watch the wildlife in that marsh grass.

That long grouping of tables - that's our group.  There were 14 of us who came out on this incredible night.  It wasn't too hot, no wind to speak of, great music, not too loud so we could still chat and good food, too.  All of that made for a delightful evening. 

I hear that they are playing again in a few weeks.

Have a wonderful night!
Kristin

Trailer Park Chic recipes

I needed something very quick and easy to take to the liver transplant support group potluck dinner the other night.  I had a couple of options, but once I realized that I had only a few hours Thursday afternoon to prepare something hot, I knew I needed some help.  I went over to Mrs. 4444 Cooks to see what she had and this Spinach Ravioli dish sounded perfect!  She got the recipe from Mrs. Tuna, who may or may not have gotten it from someone else.  I made this the night before to test on my husband and he loved it!  And he rarely loves anything I make.  Seriously!


See the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

Frozen ravioli, fresh spinach (chopped), spaghetti sauce, sautéed mushrooms and garlic. I added in 1/2 of the grated mozzarella cheese that was called for in the recipe.  Stir this up real well and pour into a greased 2 qt. baking dish.  Bake covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes at 400º. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on top, cover again and continue baking for 15 minutes. Done.


This potluck was our Trailer Park Chic themed event and we had a lot of fun with it.  We named all of the dishes something funny and trashy.  We had mud squars,  lyme pie, slices of red stuff, chicken feed, bend and snap pasta salad, cluck cluck, Pig Cake, half-eaten brownies and many more crazy dishes. 

The tubes in the watermelon were  glow sticks! 
I printed off a bunch of trailer photos and wrote the names on those cards.  They were held by little jello shot card holders, but of course this one had fallen off! 

The table decorations were minimal - newspaper for tablecloths and cans with a single silk rose.  I added the plastic leis. 

The break out hit of the night was the Chicken Feed - aka Caramel Covered Cheetos.  Oh My Goodness, they were like a strange caramel corn without the popcorn hulls!  They were really good.  I'll have to make them sometime and blog the whole process, but for now, here's a link to the recipe.



Spinach-Ravioli Bake
15 ounces frozen cheese ravioli
6 ounce bag fresh spinach
24 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Optional
2 cups mushrooms sautéed in olive oil with minced garlic.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ravioli, spinach, sauce and mushrooms in casserole dish. Cook covered with foil for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and continue covered for additional 15 minutes.

St. Augustine

One of our liver transplant friends came back for their four month evaluation.  It's a wonderful experience for those of us who knew the patient before the transplant because at the four month mark so much has changed!  Their skin color is dramatically different, a rosy color is seen under the skin (where once there was yellow or virtually no color at all) and the most noticeable change is the sparkle in their eyes!

Oh I tell you, it takes your breath away. 

There is a light that shines from within them that I cannot even describe. 

These folks stayed about 5 weeks after her transplant and we saw an immediate improvement in all of the things I listed above, but the life really comes back to them gradually over a few months.   When folks come back for their yearly evaluation it's also a celebration but they will look almost the same as their four month visit.  Most will have gained a little weight back from their pre and post surgery losses, but for the most part the four month is when we really ooh and ahh over them.

So this couple that I'm speaking of scheduled a few extra days to be in town so they could get together with some of the friends they made here in Jacksonville.  Since I'm a local, I was fortunate to be one of the friends that got to hang out with them.  Today we went to St. Augustine.

Solar lights - from $27 - $33 each.  I know I want a few of these for my patio!

It was incredibly hot there today.  Oh my goodness!  I thought we were going to melt the second we hopped out of the car.  We really only walked a few blocks, in the main area of shops on St. George Street but we stayed for several hours.  Most of the shops are air conditioned, so that makes it very enticing to stay and shop!

A beautiful parasol in one of the shops

As soon as we arrived we ran into another transplant family having an outing in St. Augustine, too.  Funny how that happens!  They had just finished lunch and were heading back to Jacksonville.

The Dr. Peck House Historical Marker with the really cool seal on top

I've photographed so many things in St. Augustine that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to find anything new but I shouldn't have worried for I am forever fascinated with signs and doors and patterns and plants.

 I took a bunch of pictures of my friends, but I never did ask their permission to post the photos on my blog.  I always forget that part.  So, no pictures of them.  Not today anyway. 

After the hottest walk in St. Augustine that I've ever experienced and after a wonderful cup of praline ice cream and after about a dozen stops in the shops, we left to get ourselves back to the Inn at Mayo.  We were informed that a BBQ was going on and we were invited.  Since that was where my friends were staying for their Mayo visit, we decided to have dinner with the folks having the BBQ.

My husband even came down to join us.  We said goodbye to our friends, going back to California after a wonderful 4 month evaluation.  She got two enthusiastic thumbs up as her new liver is enjoying it's new home and all is well.

Another success story and another goodbye.

I can't wait to see them in 8 months.



I hope you have enjoyed Sundays in my City.
Thanks so much for stopping by and saying hello.
For more city adventures from around the world, please visit Unknown Mami.
She's the hostess showing us the way.

Please think about being an organ donor and then tell your family of your decision.
Thank you!
Kristin

POTD - Caregiver Tattoos

My friends Albert and Patti got tattoos recently to honor the gift of life that someone gave to their spouses, who each needed a liver transplant. Albert's tattoo says "Give Life" and shows a cross with the green ribbon for organ donation. The three doves represent the three transplant friends that have died in the past year from various causes.   The dates on the ribbon signify the dates of Julie's two transplants. The first liver that she received on January 2nd never woke up from the procurement procedure. She needed a second transplant and received it two weeks later.

Patti's tattoo is a butterfly with the green ribbon as the body and Matt's transplant date hovering above. His transplant wasn't an easy one either, but 4 months later he is recovering beautifully.

These two have often referred to the tattoos as "Caregiver Tattoos" but I'm not falling for it.  I was the caregiver and I'm not getting a tattoo.  I blog. That's my way of spreading the message.

I'm also a big chicken.
No way I'm getting one.

But anyway, back to the subject at hand...the tattoos are on their forearms so that hopefully people will ask about the images. This will be an easy way to talk about being an organ donor to the curious and to tell their story about how grateful they are to the donor and the donor family for the gift of life.

Albert & Julie and Matt & Patti will no doubt be wonderful spokespeople for organ donation.

Have a great day!
Kristin

For more information on organ donation please visit...
http://donatelife.net/

POTD - Missing

POTD - Missing

©2010 Kristin Corlett

A year ago my friend and her daughter helped me with a photography assignment.  My word was bubbles, so I decided to take it literally.  The girls were lightheaded blowing so many bubbles, but we got a lot of fun shots.  I'm so very grateful that I took a few photos of my helpers because sadly, in January of this year we lost Deb.  Our bubble blowing day was so much fun and it was the first and only time that the three of us were alone together.  Deb's daughter had a birthday the other day, her first one without her Momma.  It's no accident that I thought about this day and realized it was year ago.  

Enjoy the photo and go blow some bubbles!
Kristin

Light a Candle

I received this candle and letter from one of my Mother's dear friends, Margaret.  It was such a lovely story that I just had to share.  I so appreciate her including me in the group of friends that have been given a candle.  I was nearly brought to tears when she told me that she wanted to show her appreciation for my work with my Mayo family of transplant patients and caregivers.  The only way she would have gotten the information would have been from my mother.  I think my Momma is proud of me :)


April 25, 2011

Dear Kristin,

This candle has become very special to our family and many of our friends. This candle came into our lives in the fall of 2007 when my daughter Judy’s husband Les was diagnosed with leukemia. At the time of his diagnosis he was told that there was “no cure, but approximately 15% of people in his age group did recover”. That began a very arduous course of treatment for Les and an all out effort on the part of family and friends to support him and Judy.

As the word went out to family and friends the response was incredible. While Judy spent most of her days and nights at the hospital friends came in and cleaned their house, did laundry, shoveled their walk and of course brought in food. People from all over, some who Les knew and some he had never met, sent cards. The messages of love and support touched him deeply. The messages had several themes based on people’s beliefs. Some said “we are praying for you”, other said “we are keeping you in our thoughts” and the Quakers said “we are holding you in the light”.

Inspired by this, our daughter Margaret suggested that we all light a candle everyday and pray for Les or hold him in our hearts. She found these candles and sent one to everyone in the family. Then we started giving them to extended family, neighbors and friends, both near and far. Over the last 3 years we have given these candles to dozens of people. In June of 2008 Les was told he is “leukemia free”.

Over time we and all who have the candles have found many reasons to “light our candles”; for friends and family who are struggling, for people all over the world who are struggling, for greater compassion in the world, for world peace.

This candle is for you in appreciation for the work you do with patients who have organ transplants and their families. I am sure there are many occasions when people need support and this is one way we can support them from a distance.

Love and Peace,

Margaret

Gabriel House of Care

Friday night was the open house for the Gabriel House of Care on the grounds of the Jacksonville, Florida Mayo Clinic.  It's a hospitality house for people in the transplant process and those that are having caner treatments.  It isn't free to stay there, but it's considerably lower than a regular hotel and looks like a 4 star resort!

The donation that got the ball rolling on the Gabriel House was from a lung transplant patient, Jorge Bacardi and his wife, Leslie.  Pictured next them is the donor, Christopher. 

The plaque above says:

What inspires acts of great philanthropy?  For Jorge and Leslie Bacardi of the Bahamas, the answer is a stranger's extraordinary gift, which Mr. Bacardi described unforgettably in a 2008 letter to Mayo Clinic:

"I have just undergone one of the most critical surgeries on this planet.  I have come through this ordeal in astonishing fashion, thanks to Mayo Clinic, Cesar Keller and his magnificent lung transplant team and, most of all, to the grand generosity of one young man - and unknown entity I have named 'Gabriel' - and his selfless act of organ donation.

"I have a debt that is impossible to repay.  Nevertheless, I am determined to honor and give thanks to Gabriel, as well as the many other 'Gabriels,' both alive and dead, and to the medical staff at Mayo Clinic who help people like me achieve this miraculous rebirth."

Mr. and Mrs. Bacardi later discovered their angel "Gabriel" - Christopher Gregory, a 19-year-old college student from Maryland who passed away unexpectedly during his first year at Loyola University in New Orleans.  Born from Christopher's sacrifice, a passion to honor organ donors and a desire to celebrate all caregivers who make the gift of life possible, the Bacardis' story, the comforts here and modern medicine combine to create rebirth for generations to come.

Mr. and Mrs. Bacardi, of the Bacardi Rum family, donated a very large sum of money to get the ball rolling on Gabriel House.  The house will be run by the non profit organization, St. Andrews Lighthouse, Inc. and will have a live-in house manager, a full staff, volunteers and of course, the house will be full of patients and caregivers.  St. Andrews Lighthouse has been housing transplant families for years now, but only had a few rooms in their transplant house. 

In the Gabriel House their mission to make sure that everyone who stays will find friendship, compassion and support during such a difficult time. 

There are 30 bedrooms with private bath - as you can see, the bedrooms have hardwood floors.  It's so much easier to keep sanitary conditions in the rooms with a hard surface floor.  I'm so excited to see that.  There are four laundry areas, one per wing,  and a fitness room.  My friends in the liver transplant group, Matt and Patti are demonstrating the machines :)

There are several sitting areas, this one is near the entrance, a meditation/reflection room, library and large dining room.  The furniture hasn't arrived yet for the dining room, in this photo.  These are clearly rented.

The kitchen is huge.  In fact the photo in the mosaic is just half of the kitchen.  It's huge.  There is a pantry area where all residents can store their food, too.  The game room/TV area is on the second floor.  I can see that being a nice gathering space.

I am so grateful that the Bacardi's chose to give this most generous gift to Mayo and I can't wait to see how beneficial it is to all who come and stay.  I'm sure that I will still be able to rent my condos to transplant patients, as not everyone wants to live in a group setting like this.  There is aenough business to go around :)

If you would like more information for the Gabriel House of Care, on the grounds of Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, please use the information below.

Gabriel House of Care
4599 Worrall Way
Jacksonville, FL 32224
Phone (904) 821-8995
Fax (904) 821-8997
info@gabrielhouseofcare.org
www.gabrielhouseofcare.org


I can't end a post like this without asking that you get information (organdonor.gov) on how to become an organ donor if you haven't already signed up, tell your family of your wishes and help save lives.   Organ donation has saved the life of so many people that I know and I bet it's saved the life of someone you know, too! 

I should add, for those of you who don't know me, that my husband had a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville in Dec of 2005.  Someone saved my husband's life and we are also so very grateful.

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Missing you

I was at a little gathering at a friend's house tonight.

It was a group of the Jacksonville transplant friends, those of us who live her full time or are here for the winter. 

We are considered the regulars. 

It was about 30 minutes after our scheduled arrival time and the doorbell rang. 

My very first thought was, "Well, that's Deb!  She's always late."

It's going to take a long time for the natural reactions to stop. 

For me to not think about her when I do certain things.

Or when the regulars meet up.

Deb is my friend who passed away last month. 

We had our monthly potluck dinner last night and I could not stop wondering where she was. 

Her daughter came to the dinner with a few of her friends and Tom and I both commented later to each other how happy we were that she came to the dinner. 

It did make me miss her Mom even more though.

The photos in this series are of the paint box we found at Deb's house.

I kept wanting to use them sometime and today is the perfect day, because I am talking about her.

It's good to miss someone. 

I just wish she had moved away.

Kristin

It's group day!

Nearly every Thursday I can be found in a room like this.  Actually, that's the exact room where I hang out.  I don't hang out there alone as this is the room where the Liver Transplant Support Group meets.  There are about 30 people who come each week, both patients and their caregivers.

But do you see this room?  It's really hard to talk together when the room is set up in rows like this.

(If you would like to learn more about organ donation, please visit the Donate Life America website - Thank you)

So within a few minutes of my arrival in the room I totally take it apart and push all the chairs to the center and the tables to the edges.  Somehow I became the unofficial room-putter-togetherer.  I think it's because I tend to come early or maybe it's because I have this little halo over my head.  If someone else arrives while I'm putting the room together then I put them to work!

Guess that dings up that halo I was just talking about!

This is the goal for the room - tables against the wall and the chairs lined up in a giant circle. Today was group day and I was out in the waiting room chatting with a post transplant family and completely lost track of time.  By the time I came into the room it was all set up.  They did a good job!

I taught them well :)

After our one hour meeting it's noon, so that means it's time for lunch!  Sometimes there's just 3 of us and other times we have 20.  I think our average is about 8.   Today we went to the 3rd. Street Diner and I had Spanikopita with a side of tzatziki sauce.   The folks in the kitchen were on their game today because everyone had great food and the Spanikopita (spinach pie) was one of the best ones I've had!  The tzatziki sauce, which is a yogurt, cucumber, garlic and dill sauce, was so good that I brought home a pint.   In March of last year I talked about tzatziki sauce in my Friday Fragments post and gave a recipe, if you're curious. 

Speaking of Friday Fragments, usually I do a FF post at this time but I'm not going to be able to visit the other participants this weekend, so I decided to hold off until next weekend.  You can still go visit Mrs. 4444 and the Friday Fragments crew for some fun though!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristin