And then I took her for cinnamon sugar pretzels at Auntie Annie's.
It's also the birthday of two of my very best friends.
But most notably, today is the day my sister, who donated her bone marrow to a complete stranger a year ago, received the identity of her recipient. In college my younger sister, "B", who has a heart of gold, signed up to be on the bone marrow registry.
Last year B got a call, asking for a blood donation. All she was told was that she was a match for a woman who was very sick with Preleukemia. But as the time to donate got closer, the woman's condition worsened. She was dying.
They called back and wanted to know if my sister would donate her marrow. She was a complete match for this complete stranger she's never met. Without hesitation, my sister agreed. It would mean time off work and time to heal. It would mean being uncomfortable and needing help for a few days. None of this deterred my angel of a sister.
Finally, last September my mother flew out to be with B when she went in to donate her marrow. The doctors waited outside with the cooler, just like in the movies.
A few months after the donation, my sister received a letter. The recipient addressed my sister as "Life."
The recipient was getting stronger. She was healing. She had four boys, was 47 and was married a ten short years when she got sick. The next letter came, and one more. By the end of march, my sister's blood cells officially regenerated in her, giving the recipient two sets of DNA. B would live inside her forever, because she was cured.
It's hard not to believe in heaven, and God when you see firsthand the miracles around us. Last year, my sister saved a dying mother of four boys. That mother could have been me, or one of my friends.
Today, after one year, she is finally allowed to know her recipient's name. And where she lives.
My sister will finally meet the woman who received her marrow. Today is, without doubt, an amazing day. Believe in miracles.
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