Transplant Trot

I know a few people that have been transplant recipients or donors. One of the most remarkable stories I know of is my buddy Sophia. It turns out that when she needed a kidney, her husband was an eligible donor. Imagine the odds! That was 8 years ago now. Her life has changed in so many ways I can barely enumerate them, but they start with life itself. She might not still be here without that transplant.

Today was the first run event for transplants, and since she took up running a while ago, it's no surprise she wanted to take part. So what if it was snowing? There she is in the middle of the pack.

Here is my cheering partner today. There were bells. There were matching pom-poms. To say nothing of coffee and cameras. Go here to see the matching one of me and many others, should you be so inclined. 

Here is Sophia booking it to the finish. If the camera had fired a fraction of a second sooner, she would have both feet off the ground for sure. Michelle has video, not sure where it's been posted. Maybe later.

It was a wet and soggy day out there. One girl came in with the entire back half of her pants covered in mud. Sophia just had a tasteful amount of splashing. I didn't get a photo, but many people had a cute little patch of snow on their hats or hair just at the centre of their forehead.

You can't really see how muddy her shoes are. As we were driving home we could see where some of the run path was, and I'm glad I wasn't there.

We sat and chatted after the race, having a wonderful time! At one point Michelle was talking about the various issues with cameras, and that one of them wouldn't even turn on. There they are laid out, and just as I gook the picture the one camera turned on and pushed up the lens after having sat there quite some time.

 I've signed some paperwork in my wallet about organ donation, but that doesn't seem to be good enough anymore. The Alberta government has a new website up to register. I took a quick look, and plan to go back and get properly registered. I urge you to consider it as well.

Which leads to another thought. I fail to understand why we need the registry in the first place. It ought to be the standard practice upon death to use whatever material can be salvaged. After all, they're dead and don't need it anymore. If you don't want that to happen, then you should be the one going through the hoops to prevent it. A living registry makes sense, I guess, in that it's a way to match up a willing donor to someone in need.

In other news I'm feeling much better. My cold is gone, yay! Sophia wants to run 18 K with me after the Police half tomorrow, but I don't know. My quad and knee are still feeling a bit funny after some of the furniture moving on Wednesday. I think I'll head downstairs to do some stretching.

Yes, it's a spring snowstorm out there, which is kind of typical here. Lots of people complain, but I don't really mind. It's all moisture into the ground, and Alberta tends to be a dry place. When it isn't flooding.