Why I'm here

Last night my husband Dan and I were talking with a friend, saying that we had big news to share. She lit up, certain we -- married only 1 1/2 years ago -- were going to announce that we were having a kid.

Nope, not a kid. A kidney. A donated one, in fact. 

You take for granted the way life is "supposed" to go. You grow up, go to college, establish a career, get married, have kids. 

That has never been my story. So I shouldn't be surprised at the turn my life has taken. But I never could have imagined this.

In three weeks, I am donating a kidney to my brother-in-law, Howard. Me, who is afraid of needles and dreads going to the doctor. Here I am, volunteering myself for surgery. Love is stronger than fear. 

I'm creating this blog to share my story. Perhaps it's some measure of therapy, but I hope it helps educate people going through the same thing I am. I promise to be honest (I'm a 'wear-my-heart-on-my-sleeve' type of person). It may get gross at times, I might make myself laugh (it's how Nozicks deal with pain), and some entries definitely will be uncomfortable. But I have gotten such strength from learning from the donors who preceded me. I want to remember my experience through words, rather than fading into the ether of past memory.