A Message in a Bottle
Linda Brandt Bevec
By: Linda Brandt Bevec
I’ve often wondered what it would be like to write a message, put it in a sealed glass bottle and toss it out into the rolling waves of Lake Michigan. Where would it end up? Who would find it? There’s something fascinating about a glass bottle so very fragile on land but able to safely churn through raging storms and always stay afloat. This past year I’ve felt something like a bottle rising aimlessly in the waves. Impossible to predict the direction of life we all rise and fall with the currents through uncertain waters.
Fifteen months ago we began searching for a living kidney donor for our daughter who was in renal failure. After a year of testing various donors, one friend was approved and on December 28th our 9-year old daughter’s enlarged polycystic kidneys were removed in what was considered a risky and uncommon surgery. Then, on New Year’s Eve, she received a new kidney. It began to function immediately and has been working beautifully ever since. After 17 days in the hospital and 5 weeks recovering at home she’s now living a new and abundant life. She’s gained 15 pounds, has a glow on her face that I’ve never seen before and her energy level is now one that will no doubt take on the world. When joy in your heart cannot be contained it spills over and pours out onto everything around it. And with the opportunity to write my last article for “My Turn” I can’t help but share some of this overflowing joy with you today. I’d like to think of it as my message in a bottle. So if this newspaper has reached your hands and your eyes are fixed on these printed words perhaps you’ll keep reading. Here’s what I’d like to share from this journey which, like a message in a bottle, has endured a few raging storms.
First: people really are inherently good. Given the opportunity to help, people generally do respond without hesitation. How else can you explain the self-sacrificing act of giving one of your kidneys away? Or how a 10 year old little girl would collect donations at her birthday party in lieu of gifts so she can generously give to my daughter’s transplant fund? And, how dozens of volunteers would bake thousands of cookies for what they so confidently called Kenosha’s “biggest and best” cookie walk to raise money for uncovered transplant expenses (yes, we have insurance and there’s another article I’ll write someday on the sad reality of health insurance in America) Anyway, I could go on and on about the generous hearts of others but lesson learned; people are good at the core.
Second: We all need one another. When our friend’s kidney was disconnected and removed from his body, it had no function and turned pale in color. It wouldn’t survive without healthy connections; a life source. But once it was placed into our daughter and the blood vessels and arteries were attached it suddenly had a purpose, it “pinked” up in color as life flowed through it. And I thought of what it really means to be part of something, to belong. We’re not meant to function in solitude or isolation just like that kidney in the midst of transplant. But connected, it became life sustaining. There is an overall purpose working in everything and everyone. And this was a reminder to me of the “bigger” body we’re all part of. Call it your family, your community, the body of Christ, or your cosmic connection to the universe but without a doubt we are interconnected and thereby fulfill both our individual and collective purpose.
Third: No pain, no gain. It’s true. Some of the most painful experiences in life are blessings. When you’ve suffered a wound and have the scar to prove it there is a beautiful point at which you can look at that scar and also see the blessings it has brought you. My daughter’s 9” scar down her abdomen will be a reminder of a lifelong disease, many difficult days and a still uncertain future. But more importantly it will be a reminder of her strength, the power of prayer, the love and generosity of family and friends, and the sacrifice of one individual to whom she will be forever connected.
Forth: Accept the assignment you’ve been given. While many best-selling self help books may tell you how to “get” the most out of life, you were put on this earth with an assignment and a purpose; a contribution to give and a mission to serve. Spend time in the waiting room of any children’s hospital, cancer treatment floor or neonatal intensive care unit and you’ll know what it means to bravely accept what you’ve been given. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you have an assignment. Good or bad, like it or not, easy or difficult – live it. And do the best you can.
Fifth: Love. The best thing in life is to love. It really is the greatest gift and it comes in all shapes and sizes – in newborn babies or puppies, a sunrise or sunset, a liter of donated blood, or a kidney. The best expression of love is to serve. The best time to serve is now. Be a blessing to someone today, because somewhere there is someone who needs it. And someday you will be that someone.
We all have our own message to share. And I’ve learned that writing it is far more about understanding than being understood. Perhaps all those messages in bottles throughout history were never intended to reach the hands of someone on a distant shore after all. Maybe it was so the true message could simply be found by the one who wrote it.
Reprinted with permission. Original guest editorial appeared in “Kenosha News.”
