Valentine's Day



This photo was taken at our 1st Heartwalk, May 1999. 
Ian rode in a wagon.


Thinking is such a pain.  Today, on Valentine's Day, I couldn't help thinking about Valentine's Day 1999.   Ian was 4 years old. That was the day he was officially listed for a heart transplant.  I say officially because it's quite a process.  Nine million medical tests for Ian and then psychological testing for Keith and me to make sure we would take care of him afterward.

It wasn't an easy decision, believe it or not.  I had huge issues--huge issues.  I couldn't seem to wrap my head around the idea of my son's heart being tossed in a bucket.  That's how I pictured it.   I couldn't get the image out of my head.  The organ that is associated with love and emotion, not to mention the place that the Holy Ghost uses to communicates with us--the organ that makes us alive--in a bucket.

I prayed and prayed and read every single reference in the scriptures with the word heart in it.  Keith even sent me to DC to the temple, so I could come to terms with it.  What I came up with is this:  "Saved by grace after all  that you can do" applies to more than repentance.  If I wanted God to step in and save my son, I had to do everything humanly possible to save him myself first.  That's how I decided--I couldn't expect a miracle unless there was no more I could do on my own.  So I put it in his hands.

So, that brings us to Valentine's Day and the official listing.  We thought it was the perfect day.  How could there be a better day to wish for a new heart? 

Maybe it would be best to not finish the story,  just leave it a happy ending and it was happy.  There are 364 other days of the year to tell the rest.