A Gift No One Else Can Give

I don't believe in coincidence. At least, that's what I told the owner of the body shop where my car was fixed a few weeks ago. Timing, yes. Karma, definitely. But coincidence? Not so much. I just have a strong sense of things happening for a reason.

Usually, I can deal with events that might seem like a coincidence or whatever. I don't generally need an explanation for why something happens one way or another, or why the timing of two events coincide--either terribly or beautifully. It just is.

But I do believe in Irony. It hits me in the face almost daily lately. It's ironic what happened after I wrote and scheduled Monday's post about Mockingjay and how it made me feel. Raw and emotional. Sadness and peace. Hopeful and achy all at once.

There I was, typing along and pondering all these emotions, when I got one of those calls. The kind we all dread, telling us that someone we love has been severely injured or worse. In my case, this person is my twenty-one-year old step-brother Justin. He was seen skateboarding, hitting a bump or rock, and flying backward where his head--no helmet--hit the pavement. Someone stopped to help, called an ambulance, but it was already too late for Justin.

No Helmet. No brain activity. Alive, with no chance he'd ever come back.

He's had such a hard life in his short twenty-one years, lived through a tremendous amount of heartache, difficulty, and addiction. But while his loss leaves us all achy and raw, his generosity will give others hope.

Justin was an organ donor.

The damage from the accident was mainly in his brain. All his other organs are intact, whole, vital. In Justin's death, many other lives will potentially be saved or made better. He will now give other people a gift no one else could offer, the gift of life. And Justin will finally have the opportunity to be at peace.

Is it ironic that this week in our local news there has been a rash of freak accidents, shot police officers, and unexplained deaths? I don't know. But I do feel strongly that Justin's time on earth has come to an end. Whatever happened on that hill, happened because it was his time to go home.

Just as it's someone else's time to live. To have hope. And to move on.

Give someone else hope. Be an organ donor.