Today marks the 9 month anniversary of Jody giving our Gage a new kidney. We’re thankful that Jody gave Gage a chance at a life without dialysis. She gave him a better quality of life. Sure, there are things we have to do that aren’t so pleasant like meds and labs and such, but we had to do that before and Gage was still in living limbo. Gage was living life as best he could with what he was given but now he’s living better.

He’s got energy to enjoy an entire full day of Christmas fun with family and friends and especially his cousin Andrew. Previous years he’d still have fun, but he didn’t have enough energy to last nearly the entire day and he would often need to go to bed around 7:00 in order to be able to cope the next day. Wow, what a difference kidney function makes.

We’re thankful for your decision Jody and for the support of your family; including your husband, your kids and your parents. It couldn’t have been easy for them to watch you go through what you did, knowing it was by your choice.

It’s still remarkable to me that it all happened. Nine months later I am still as amazed as I was that day we touched finger tips after surgery and I cried. I feel at a loss for appropriate words still.

We love you. You are an amazing person. And your kidney ain’t half bad either.