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MY NAME IS CATHERINE LAN TRAN.
I’M VIETNAMESE.
I’M A DONOR’S WIFE
AND ALSO A DONOR’S MOM.
I MET THIS LADY WHO I HAD PURCHASED THINGS
FROM HER BEFORE, AND HER RIGHT EYE WAS ALL RED.
I ASKED HER WHAT HAD HAPPENED,
AND SHE SAID THAT THAT SHE WAS ALMOST BLIND ON THE RIGHT,
AND SOMEONE HAD DIED AND DONATED A CORNEA.
SHE SAID, "THE REDNESS WILL GO AWAY,
BUT I CAN SEE YOU WITH MY EYES NOW."
AND WHEN I WAS ALONE IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM
WITH MY HUSBAND’S BODY THERE,
A PERSON CAME AND ASKED IF I WOULD DONATE HIS CORNEAS.
THE STORY AND THE PICTURES OF THIS LITTLE VIETNAMESE LADY
WHO I MET AT THE MARKET CAME RIGHT IN MY MIND,
AND I IMMEDIATELY SAID YES.
I KNOW RIGHT AWAY THERE WILL BE TWO PEOPLE
WHOSE SIGHT WILL BE RESTORED.
ONCE I WAS ABLE TO CONFIRM HIS DEATH,
IMMEDIATELY I SAID TO THE DOCTORS,
"WHAT DO YOU WANT OF MY SON’S BODY?
WHATEVER YOU WANT IS GIVEN."
RIGHT AFTER MY SON’S DEATH,
HIS COUSIN WAS GOING THROUGH HIS DESK.
THEY FOUND A PAPER THAT MY SON HAD WRITTEN
FOR HIS ENGLISH CLASS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,
AND THE TITLE IS "ORGAN DONATIONS."
AND AT THE LAST SENTENCE THAT HE REALLY WROTE
IN HIS PAPER IS "NOTHING CAN PREPARE ANYONE
"FOR THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE,
"BUT PERHAPS KNOWING AHEAD OF TIME
"ABOUT THE WHOLE ORGAN DONATION PROCESS
CAN EASE THE PAIN A LITTLE,"
AND I BELIEVE THIS IS WHAT I’M DOING RIGHT NOW FOR HIM.
I’M VERY SURE THEY’RE HAPPY
THAT I HAVE MADE THOSE DECISIONS.
IN FACT ONCE IN A WHILE, I WOULD SAY,
WELL, BOTH OF THEM ARE PROBABLY UP THERE
LAUGHING AND SAYING, "OH, MOM’S DOING IT AGAIN.
SHE’S TALKING ABOUT ORGAN DONATIONS AGAIN."
DON’T WASTE WHAT YOU COULD GIVE
BECAUSE ONCE YOU DIE, YOU’RE GOING TO BE BURIED
OR YOU’RE GOING TO BE CREMATED RIGHT AWAY
WHEN ALL OF THESE ORGANS COULD BE ABLE TO HELP OTHERS,
ALL YOUR BEAUTIFUL TISSUES COULD BE ABLE
TO HELP OTHERS TO LIVE,
AND SO THEY CAN CONTINUE THEIR LIFE.
YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD BE ABLE TO GIVE A GIFT,
WHICH IS A GIFT OF LIFE.