The scene: Picking Gage up from school in car pool.

Momma: Hey sweetie! How was your day?

Gage: Good, I guess.

Momma: You know what day it is, right? It’s the 1 year anniversary of you getting your new kidney from Ms. Jody.

Gage: It is? Because it seems a lot longer than that.

Momma: It does? Because to me some days it seems like a long time and some days it seems like yesterday.

Gage: So my kidney is one year old? Or months old? I get confused about that.

Momma: Well, your kidney is way older than that because Ms. Jody is older and her kidney is the same age as she is! But to you it is a one year old kidney! Isn’t that kind of neat. You have her kidney! And you’ve had it for a whole year.

Gage: Yeah. But it does seem longer.

Momma: Do you remember how it was, how you felt before you got her kidney? Because you sure couldn’t run or play soccer and you didn’t eat! Now you eat and you are growing.

Gage: What did I eat?

Momma: Like two poptarts a day, a slice of bread with butter, 5 cheetoes and a half a pear. A cup of milk and water. ALL DAY! That’s all you ate ALL DAY!

Gage: I did?

Momma: Well, you didn’t feel well. So you didn’t feel like eating. And you weren’t growing very good. You were little compared to other kids your age. And your brain didn’t get enough of what it needed and it didn’t work as good as it can.

Gage: So is that why I don’t know what I should know, like other 2nd graders?

Momma: You do know a lot! And you have caught up to other 2nd graders, but you have had to learn A LOT in a short amount of time to keep up with your class and you are doing great! Your brain is getting bigger! And you are getting smarter each day because you have energy to learn and that is because of your new kidney.

Gage: I can play. I remember soccer from before and I didn’t like it because it was hot and it made me itch and I didn’t like it. I hated it.

Momma: I know, I hated you itching like that too, it looked like you weren’t very comfortable and that was no fun at all. I’m sorry you went through that. I wish you didn’t.

Gage: But now I itch when it’s hot and I’m sweaty.

Momma: Well when you play you get sweaty and that can happen.

Gage: It can happen when you are dirty too.