**Since starting my original blog "Life in the garden and then some" a few months ago, I am happy to announce that my son, Ben, was transplanted on May 7, 2010. His transplant was the first Paired Donor pediatric case on the West coast and was featured on CNN news soon after his transplant. These blogs are dedicated to the donors, those who courageously await transplant and to the doctors, nurses and support staff that make this all possible.*** 

Summary: On May 7, 2010, at 11:30 am EST and 8:30 am PST, four lives simultaneously changed and became forever entwined. On that day, two kidney donors and two recipients, although separated by 2500 miles, came together to courageously give thousands of people awaiting kidney transplants hope.

How a Fortune Cookie Changed 4 lives... 
I've always been of the adage, "In life you can either act or react." Since I have always been an "act-or" sitting on the sidelines was never a role I took comfort in. In November of 2009, I realized that the option to sit and wait for a cadaver donor (for my son) was not enough. Intuitively I knew that there must be some other option that I hadn't discovered. That's when I discovered the Alliance for Pair Donation while surfing the web. They gave me hope that through action, we might be able to procure a living kidney donor. 

I approached Children's Hospital in San Diego and asked if they had heard of Paired Donation. They had and were actually approved but no one had ever approached them about the possibility of jump starting the program. When asked why, I was told that parents were still thinking about it. (As I would find out later, being judgmental has no place here.) I offered to be their first case and the next day, the process began. 

While the process was, at least from my personal experience not extremely difficult, I can say that there are days were it tested every fiber of my being. It was on one of these days that I drew upon the strength of a message I found in fortune cookie. It read, "Your courage will guide your future." I decided to place the fortune along with my son's picture on my car's dashboard as a constant reminder that all things are possible as long as we are courageous to walk the path less traveled. Continued Blessings, Merry

**For more information on Paired Donation, please visit:www.Pairedonation.org