Big Ed,

 

Knowing that you are a busy man, I will not bore you with a blow-by-blow detailed account of the last 20 years of my life (although I could and they have been glorious). Not enough souls have received the precious gift of which I have been blessed. Of course, I mean the “gift of life.” But this characterization, I have discovered over the years, is simplistic. Not only has longevity been unselfishly given to me, but an insight, sensitivity, and wisdom of how the quality of life is experienced is perhaps the true gift.

 

I have often shared with others your visit with me during my stay at Fairfax and your sharing, with years in your eyes, what a new heart means, not only to me and my family but what that heart represents to the donor family and to those in the medical community that endeavor to give this “gift-of-life.” A day does not pass that I do not think of those that have made it possible; specifically the donor family, the dedicated staff at Fairfax, and of course, the doctor that placed enough faith in my outcome to give me the courage to believe. I came to Fairfax a broken man (both physically and figuratively) and left not only with a new heart but, I believe, a restored sole.

 

I have come a long way in the subsequent 20 years. I have been blessed with the opportunity to return to Salisbury University to finish my undergraduate studies and continue to pursue my graduate work earning my MBA in 1992 with a 4.0 GPA. I have since been employed with Downes Associates, an engineering and management consulting firm.

 

Of course, my most precious gift, one that surpasses all others, is to be allowed to see my daughter grow and blossom into the wonderful person she has become. Lauren was three when I received my transplant. Since that time I have been able to be part of her life as she has grown, matured, and become a lovely young woman with wisdom beyond her years and a gift for lighting up my heart (pun intended). Words are inadequate to describe the joy…

 

After graduating with honors from high school, she received her Bachelors with honors in psychology and is returning this fall for a second degree in sociology. On June 4, 2005, Ihad the great honor of walking Lauren down the aisle to marry a young man that absolutely adores here; something I would have never thought possible some 20 years ago as I lay awaiting that “gift of life”…perhaps had it not been for that visit from that doctor and humanitarian that gave me the courage to believe…in myself and in others.

 

As JFK aptly observed on January 20, 1961, “with a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth…asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own. Big Ed…God’s work has truly been your own.

 

Steve Hirsh

Transplant Number 5