iheart
I think most people are shocked when I tell them i had a heart transplant… mostly because, i am health but also because it doesn’t come up very often… and why would it? I mean, i’m not running around telling people that i had a heart transplant, not because i am not proud of it but because it does not define me the way this type of thing can define someone. I don’t want to discredit the experience at all because it was and will always be one of the most significant experience that i have had in my life… that is how it should be. However, i don’t go around basing every decision in my life on the fact that i had a heart transplant.
I received some interesting counsel from a man that i really admire one day, he got really serious and looked me in the eyes and told me that i should not let the fact that i had a heart transplant get in the way of me getting married… well intended advice from someone that cares a great deal about my well being, however… up until that point, the thought of not getting married because of my heart transplant had never crossed my mind. Even still, i appreciated the advice as a reassurance of my own resolve.
I guess what i am trying to say is that if i learned anything from almost dying… i have learned that life is to be lived, regardless of what card you are played. It was best put to me by one of my doctors when i asked him if i could go and hike around Ecuador for 3 weeks with my family… “You didn’t get your life back, so you couldn’t live it.”
Today is my 12 heart transplant anniversary and here are 5 things i have learned from having a heart transplant:
- nothing is more powerful then the love of your family…
- the greatest miracles are the ones you never expect…
- you can eat cheeses burgers anytime you want…
- align yourself with something damnit
- i think i was transplanted with Otis Redding’s heart…
Someday i will elaborate on these…
So where ever you are have an IBC, Henry Weinhard’s or some other type of bottled pop, send me a picture to prestonsmith543(at)gmail(dot)com or tag in a tweet, @prestoniscrazy
<3, Preston.
is that a butt? it looks kind of like a butt.
cool, it is for people like you who have continued to live life to the fullest and share your wisdom and joys with all that i am an organ donor! =) happy anniversary!
Thanks for being a Donor… i have always had kind of a stand off approach to pushing people to be donors, mostly because i think people seeing my life is the best way to convince them that they should be a donor… so it is good to see that it is working.