The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 1, 1995 - B41 ‘es HERE BY CHOICE — FAE COLLINS MOONEY -T'll remember you, _my dear friend S IT POSSIBLE to live each day as if it were our last, and end it with no regrets, having done all that was important? I lost a friend recently. She died suddenly, iving the AREN REID gave her husband no less than the gift of life last year, Al's kidneys had failed from diabetic complications, he was on dialysis and his health was deteriorating, He had backspasms, frequent vomiting and had no strength to work or walk any distance. The wait list for a kidney transplant was more than two years long and uncertainties were beginning to build. So Karen gave him one of hers. “Tt seemed to be the right thing to do all the way down the line,’’ she says. ‘We'd unexpectedly. lived together for 18 years, She left us so quickly. There was no time We shared everything else. to say good-bye. Why not that?”’ No opportunily to express thanks... Vl miss my friend. I’ll miss her contribu- tion to my life and all the special things we shared. It was almost two years ago now that my friend was batlling cancer, and apparently beating it, From time to time I would take over to her a small friendship token, a small reminder that I cared. I did what friends have always done, ] was concemed, and wanted to remind her I was here close by. Something deep inside us both seemed to connect; we seemed to know without hav- ing to say anything at ail... At least, that’s how it was for me, Maybe it was the common bond we felt toward other living things - our dogs and wild feathered friends. Among the small tokens given to her was “a little silver tray. ‘Some time ago another friend of mine ’ brought me this little tray piled high with *- home-made cookies. She said I may keep “the tray if I wished, or pass it along to an- “other. For the longest time I kept the tray, as a token of her friendship, and'a reminder of all that she and I have shared over. the years. But I resolved that indeed I would _ pass it along when a special opportunity presented itself, The day my [riend called to announce she was cancer-free was the day I realized who this tray now belonged to. I placed a paper lace doily on the little sil- _ ver tray and filled it with fresh baked brownics, then gave it to my friend, to help her celebrate her triumph over that deadly foe. silver try and why I was passing it along to her. Through an act of kindness toward me, I was able to extend it lo yet another. Jf she wished, she too may pass the tray along. She treasured that little tray. Whether she kept it or passed it on 1o someone else, | don’t know. Wherever it may be now, that little silver tray is still special, and always will be. Like my friend who gave it; like my friend who received it. Although I feel sad at losing a special’ friend (the tears I shed are not for her, but for me), although I grieve my loss, I can’t help rejoicing also. She is safe and secure, Nothing can harm her now. Can I say good-bye to her, then, without fecling regrets? No. There are still things I wish I had dane, and said. The opporiinitis are gone now, But I’ll live tomorrow more carefully. Til remember my friend. I value what she has added to my life. Pil think of her when I walk my little dog and pass her quiet house, Pll remember the times when her dogs from inside would bark in the big front window as we passed, my little one stepping a liltle more lively, and look up at me wilh a happy face as if to say, those are my friends saying he... Each time a new bird or squirrel visits my feeder 1’ll remember the love, appreciation, and respect for Nature we both shared, and how we liked to encourage the wildlife to sojourn in our back yards. I'll think of her whenever I throw out a handful of seed for our feathered friends. Except now I'll be sure to throw out an ex- tra handful, one for her as well. And P ‘l try to live each nay with fewer regrets, .- [told her the story of how I acquired the Al first told her that she could be tested as a possible match last spring. “T knew then and there, that this would be my opportunity to help,’’ Karen says. “J just knew it was going to work. We didn’t even know if we were the same blood type then.”’ They went through batteries of tests. Karen underwent psychological tests to ensure her decision wasn’t made un- der duress, There were dangers to both of them, but they both felt up- beat and confident the transplant would work. “‘We had great optimism and faith that we would ride ‘through ihis,’* she says, “We ~ looked. at all of the what ifs but the possibility of good out- shines the probability of bad.’’ Al and Karen went into surgery on Sept. 26 and. the couple sailed through in flying colours. ; Almost immediately, Al gained strength and weight. He was soon walking for blocks in Vancouver without getting tired. “¥ feel like a new person,” he says now. He got his dialysis tube taken out two weeks ago. ‘It’s the first time since last April that IJ haven’t had a INSIDE ‘SECTION B COMMUNITY JEFF NAGEL EVENTS B2. | | 638. 7283 ift of life KAREN AND AL REID share thelr life, their love and their kidneys. And now they're asking you ta help others with what they've gone through. bandage on me or a tube in me,”’ he says.. --. _ Since then he’s been going . < - back periodically for-testing to _ ensure there are no ‘Signs of re- jection. . The’ monitoring - will ‘con tinue, as there can be a. re- jection anytime in the first year after‘a transplant. There have been no adverse effects for Karen of going down to just one kidney. It’s as if she never needed the sec- ond one. : a Other patients waiting for kidneys face increasingly long waits. When Al was in hospital there were 280 other patients — Around Town Land donated for new theatre TERRACE LITTLE THEATRE has been given a donation of river- front iand for construction of a new theatre. _ Theatre president Gordon Oates said local businessman Glen Saunders had donated three-quarters of an acre of land to the theatre group adjaccnt to River Industries on Keith Ave: Oates says workers are putting in fill at the site now to stabilize the banks of the site. The next step for the theatre groups is a visit by a theatre consultant on Mar. 16-18 to prepare studies and plan a design of the building. Oates said the consultant is to come back in April to present plans and drawings to the TLT board, Getting a donation of land is important, Oates said, because it will free up the theatre group to dispose of its existing property, where the — McColl Playhouse is now located, on Kalum Si. Earlier plans involved tearing down the structure and rebuilding on the same parcel of land. Between the McColl Playhouse building and the group’s building fund, Oates said they have about $150,000 for construction. “It’s hard to guess how far we’ve got to go without knowing how much the building will cost,’? Oates noted. “It will be a while before we have more concrete plans, but it’s a step in the right direction anyway,”’ Bands plan a telethon TAKING MUSIC on the road is the aim of a high school band telethon planned for Sunday, March 12. Skeena Jr. Parents for Music are. calling it the Tri-School Band Telethon, and it’s going to be broadcast live on Cable 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. Bands from Caledonia Sr. Secondary, Skeena Jr. Secondary and Thormhill Ir, Secondary will perform during the three-hour period, Donations raised will help the various bands travel to the Natioual Band Festival in Calgary May 14-19. Band members will be collecting pledges. And they'll be rafiling off prizes to those who make c pledges, Prizes include a return plane ticket to Vancouver, 4 three-day, Shames Min ski pass and a telephone, George Clark will emcee the telethon: so; . Anyone wanting to make pledges cait contact Nora Philips a at 635-" a “S688, = nex mae te on the waiting list and the average wait for a kidney was. 26 months: | That’s a long time if you Ye. on dialysis. Karen says the donor situa- tion is actually getting. worse for patients like Al. Safer cars. with features like air bags mean there are’ fewer head injury deaths, and fewer organs available for transplant. That makes live donations increasingly important. - The live donation rate for kidney transplants in the U.S, is 50 per cent, she notes. In Canada it’s less than five per cent. A number of other local people have had kidney transplants, including Terrace: ~~ _ Community Band leader’ Jim Ryan. ; .. And ‘more. people will need ‘them in the future. That’s why Karen has un- dertaken the first-ever Kidney Foundation ‘of : Canada fund- . raising drive here in Terrace in ‘the month of March. She has 38 volunteers so far and canvassing should begin within a week, They'll also be - distributing organ donor stick- ers to anyone who wants one, - Anyone who wants to help out can call Karen Reid at 638-1018. , @ it’s Carnival time BON HOMME and Kiti K'Shan’s eagle mascot arrive at the primary school on Monday to kick off a week of Winter: Carnival festivities, in the style of the Quebec: Winter. Carnival. About 100 students are enrolled in Franch Im- : mersion classes at the 800-shident K- Grade. 3 school rn