I have been wanting to write a post about the gift of life that ALLO donors give to their recipients. Many do not even know the person they are giving their stem cells to. It is a truly selfless act of both courage and bravery.

In our case, Barclay’s donor was his younger brother. RPN. Now there is some history here, so I will give a few details. Not a lot of details but some, as it’s complicated.

We have had little or no contact with either of his brothers for almost 20 years. This was mutual. The gist is there was an inheritance involved that was very substantial and the two brothers were included and Barclay was not. They stood by the monetary decision and did not offer to make it more equitable.  A lot of angry words were said and that’s that.

RPN, gave his brother the gift of life, a chance to have some good years ahead and that is priceless. So I can forgive the past simply because of this single act of sacrifice.  What RPN did was courageous and he did not hesitate.  This act was, I think, transformative for me and Barclay on many levels even the cellular one!!!!

The past is the past and I can forgive and move on.

Life is a strange journey and healing the past is always a good thing.

We want to live for Now and what has happened is just part of our history that makes us who we are.

On a bigger platform, to all the people that have been ALLO donors, you are truly heroes and thank you!