The celebration of 20 years with Eli's heart began on June 6th with my sister, my mom and me having a "girls" day of shopping, eating, talking and my "annual" transplant movie-Return to Me. We also enjoyed a bottle of Dom Perignon (thank you Ron) to kick off the celebration.
The following day continued with Lisa and the kids decorating my van and then Lisa, Scott and I heading over to Windsor with a couple stops along the way to pick up some dear friends. We stayed at WorldMark Windsor Resort which is part of Scott's folks timeshare. His folks drove all the way over there ahead of us to check us in for 2 condos and then returned home the same night! What troopers, thanks for the great place to stay Chris & Ren.
We arrived at our condo and shortly after my brother Guy arrived, followed awhile later by 2 more dear friends. Scott handed out the T-shirts he had made everyone to wear on June 8th to commemmorate the day. I also put on the ring that was made for Eli and me. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner cooked by Scott (with assistance from Guy), several bottles of wine, lively conversations, good music, friendship and laughter. Those of us preparing to ride in the Hot Air Balloon the next day attemped to catch a few Z's before our 7:30 lift-off.
We arrived at the airport by 7:15am only to be told we needed to wait and see if the incoming fog would lift. Our pilot (and owner of the company) explained to us that he should know by 8:45 if we'd be lifting off or not. So the six of us that were going up in the balloon chatted, took silly photos and prayed that the fog would lift and the wind currents would cooperate.
Heartbreaking news (for me) was delivered after the test balloon failed and our pilot told us that these were NOT safe conditions to fly in today :( He truly felt bad knowing the impact of what it meant for me to fly on this day. Unfortunately I had not even thought of a plan B, so we headed back to the condo for some breakfast and regrouping as what to do next.
After several suggestions from my brother, sister and friends; I remembered driving by the CIA the day before & checked out their website for tours, lunch etc. (By CIA-I mean the Culinary Institute of America :) ) I've always wanted to check it out-so we made reservations for 9 of us (another friend was joining us soon) for that afternoon. After my last friend arrived, we viewed the celebratory video that my aunt Joanne had lovingly put together for me. After drying our eyes we headed over to a winery for some wine tasting, and then it was off to the CIA.
The building itself was completed in 1889. It is 117,000 square feet with 22-inch thick walls of locally quarried stone. After the Great Depression, the buliding was auctioned off & purchased by the CA Wine Association who turned the buiding into a co-op for local vineyards. in 1950, Christian Brothers purchased the property. In 1990 a corporation aquired it from Christian Brothers and in 1993 the CIA was "given" the building, surrounding grounds, and 15-acre Merlot Vineyard.
We self-toured the grandiose building, sampled chocolate, browsed the gift shop and headed over for an unforgettable lunch. We dined on the patio which we had pretty much to ourselves and the staff, the food and the view was amazing. I think I might just have to take some classes here now! We celebrated the afternoon away, and then 5 from our party departed to head back home and 4 of us headed back to the condo for a wind-down evening to end the celebration. And although the balloon ride did not occur, just being with my friends and family to commemorate the day was truly memorable.
Pictures to follow...
Reflections on Eli
*******Warning******Sentimintal Post ahead**********
So I feel the need to write, mainly this is for myself, but I want to share my thoughts with family and friends too. I'll be celebrating my 20th anniversary with Eli's heart on a Hot Air Balloon ride, and promise to post photos after the event.
Though all of you know I had a heart transplant on June 8, 1990; some of you might not know that 3 years ago, when I was pregnant with Nolan, I found out my donor's name, birthdate, and that the date of the vehicle accident was not the same date I received the "call" for a new heart.
Now as the different "anniversaries" approach, for some reason I find myself thinking about his family and wondering how they are coping. I think since I've become a mother myself, I can only imagine what his family must have gone through during the 4 days following the accident. I think to myself, "It's June 3rd. Today is the day of Eli's accident. I wonder how his mom is doing?"
I know as a parent, that date would be imprinted in my memory forever. Over the course of the next few days, the heartache and revelation that their son would not survive must have been agonizing. And then to make the ultimate self-less decision to donate his organs, I cannot even fathom the anguish of such events.
I find myself wondering if Eli graduated high school yet? He would have turned 18 in September, did he graduate the weekend before his accident? June 7th was a Thursday, perhaps he was to graduate that weekend, perhaps even the date of my transplant. These are the crazy thoughts I have during this time of year and the reason I wish his family felt the need to contact me, as I feel the need to want to know about Eli.
However, I do have to say that I am VERY grateful for the information I do have. I feel very fortunate to have found out his name so I could honor him by giving Nolan his middle name (Scott wasn't keen on Eli :) ) and to know that Nolan was born 2 days before Eli's birthday seems very poignant to me for some reason.
I'll end with a poem from a dear friend that ironically I've never met (but hope to someday), but have gotten to know over the course of the past 6 years (or so). She wrote it for me 4 years ago for my 16th anniversary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One family's loss on that tragic day
Another family waiting for word
One soul to another
Like sister and brother
Forever bound by what had occurred
A second chance, with one life to live
Who could ask for anything more?
Waiting for tests
Hoping for the best
Not knowing what might be in store
The girl grew into a woman
So many years have gone by
Passing all expectations
Getting through complications
A life changed in the blink of an eye
Along came a man named Scott
He made all her dreams come true
A love to endure
Untainted and pure
Together a future they grew
Then a new life was beginning
She would make her appearance soon
A gift from above
Proof of their love
A little girl to make her Daddy swoon
Looking back on that day 16 years ago
Who could know the gift it would bring
Sweet Leah to raise
And a husband to amaze
Things that make a heart want to sing!
A mother and father who got their wish
That their girl would get past being a teen
She inspires us all
With all things big or small
She is our very own lovely Jillybean!
So I feel the need to write, mainly this is for myself, but I want to share my thoughts with family and friends too. I'll be celebrating my 20th anniversary with Eli's heart on a Hot Air Balloon ride, and promise to post photos after the event.
Though all of you know I had a heart transplant on June 8, 1990; some of you might not know that 3 years ago, when I was pregnant with Nolan, I found out my donor's name, birthdate, and that the date of the vehicle accident was not the same date I received the "call" for a new heart.
Now as the different "anniversaries" approach, for some reason I find myself thinking about his family and wondering how they are coping. I think since I've become a mother myself, I can only imagine what his family must have gone through during the 4 days following the accident. I think to myself, "It's June 3rd. Today is the day of Eli's accident. I wonder how his mom is doing?"
I know as a parent, that date would be imprinted in my memory forever. Over the course of the next few days, the heartache and revelation that their son would not survive must have been agonizing. And then to make the ultimate self-less decision to donate his organs, I cannot even fathom the anguish of such events.
I find myself wondering if Eli graduated high school yet? He would have turned 18 in September, did he graduate the weekend before his accident? June 7th was a Thursday, perhaps he was to graduate that weekend, perhaps even the date of my transplant. These are the crazy thoughts I have during this time of year and the reason I wish his family felt the need to contact me, as I feel the need to want to know about Eli.
However, I do have to say that I am VERY grateful for the information I do have. I feel very fortunate to have found out his name so I could honor him by giving Nolan his middle name (Scott wasn't keen on Eli :) ) and to know that Nolan was born 2 days before Eli's birthday seems very poignant to me for some reason.
I'll end with a poem from a dear friend that ironically I've never met (but hope to someday), but have gotten to know over the course of the past 6 years (or so). She wrote it for me 4 years ago for my 16th anniversary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One family's loss on that tragic day
Another family waiting for word
One soul to another
Like sister and brother
Forever bound by what had occurred
A second chance, with one life to live
Who could ask for anything more?
Waiting for tests
Hoping for the best
Not knowing what might be in store
The girl grew into a woman
So many years have gone by
Passing all expectations
Getting through complications
A life changed in the blink of an eye
Along came a man named Scott
He made all her dreams come true
A love to endure
Untainted and pure
Together a future they grew
Then a new life was beginning
She would make her appearance soon
A gift from above
Proof of their love
A little girl to make her Daddy swoon
Looking back on that day 16 years ago
Who could know the gift it would bring
Sweet Leah to raise
And a husband to amaze
Things that make a heart want to sing!
A mother and father who got their wish
That their girl would get past being a teen
She inspires us all
With all things big or small
She is our very own lovely Jillybean!
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