I have the fortunate pleasure to work as a clinical social worker [Duke Transplant Social Worker team pictured above] with many candidates and recipients for solid organ transplant. I witness generosity of spirit, body, and energy each and every day.
People with advanced heart failure often don’t have a lot of energy or breath, so each action has to be calculated. Yet, they are generous with me. Patients attend appointments, reach out when they need support, and boldly participate in support groups that I facilitate. They are generous with a limited resource, with high hopes to expand that resource (in ways that often feel indefinite) through cardiac transplant.
Organ donation is a gift - a thoughtful and generous gift. As I offer support to potential recipients and families, I encourage them to share thoughts, prayers or meditations for generosity. The life cycle is millions of years old and every living thing dies. Yet, in hoping for generosity, my recipients and their families are then waiting for the offer of a thoughtful and generous gift, no longer needed by one, yet essential for others. What a generous concept, to extend one’s generosity, even after death, for years to come.
The generosity that I witness reminds me to be generous in my clinical work, recognizing the strengths which have brought people to me.
You can mirror this generosity through Donate Life NC. Sign up to be a donor. Purchase a license plate. Speak to your local DMV. Talk with a friend, niece or nephew about their choice to donate.