Sunday, February 01, 2009

So, I didn't realize that you can't read the Nursing 2009 article unless you can log into google. I'll work on that if I have some time tonight. Maybe I'll just post the full article on here.

In the meantime, I'm working on a playlist of songs that have to do with donation for Nat'l Donate Life month in April (or maybe sooner). Does anyone have any suggestions? So far I've got Mariah Carey's Hero, You've got a friend by Carol King, Devotion by Indigo Girls, and a few others. Let me know your ideas and I'll see if I can find them on project playlist.

6 comments:

BreathinSteven said...

Hey Beautiful Lady!

The theme song on the Donate Life Float this year was Faith Hill's "There you'll be..."

The float driver told a little group of us that by the 4th or 5th time we heard it we would be bored silly of the song... I don't think he was really thinking about who he was talking to -- beyond the excitement of the parade, we could hear the words coming through that excitement a few dozen times... After almost 4 hours and five miles, driving the last 50 feet into the holding area after the parade route -- it still made most of us well up...

The chorus is:

In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky...
In my heart there'll always be a place
For you for all my life...
I'll keep a part of you with me,
And every where I am
There you'll be...
And every where I am
There you'll be.


I personally can't think of a more perfect song -- you've hugged me and you know how I feel... Kari is on my mind always -- I think about her always and I can see her smile always... And every where I am, there she is...

And I've known so many donor families... The double meaning for we recipients is pretty obvious -- we have "a part" of this precious person, but so many of us also feel we carry a part of their being -- of who they were... So many donor family members carry "a part" of their loved one with them forever... After five years, Chase's Dad told me he thinks about him when he wakes up, and when he goes to sleep, and often throughout the day... I have little doubt that Kari's folks are similar...

So... That's my vote... I hope you're doing freakin' awesome!

Love,

Steve

BreathinSteven said...

Me again...

I have another song, but it hasn't been released yet... It's by my favorite band in the world -- The Sons of the Never Wrong... There are three of them -- Sue, Deb and Bruce... Long ago, Sue commented on the Legacy post you wrote about Kari...

Deb wrote a beautiful, new song she named "Pass it on..." It doesn't actually say "organ donation", but Deb said that me and Lizzy inspired it... In one of the verses, she mentions "didgeridoo" and "whispers"... "Didgeridoo" is remembering Lizzy -- she played the didg with her bad lungs, and with her beautiful, new lungs... "Whispers" is her little word to remember Kari for me... The chorus ends with "Pass it on... when you're through."

When I first heard it, I think she used "breaths" or something of that nature -- I don't know if she got "whispers" from this post... I think it sounds neater with "whispers" though... She can't look at me when she sings that verse because she knows she'll break because of the tears rolling over my cheeks...

They've recorded it, but they haven't released their new CD yet...

Sue wrote a beautiful song she titled Wind/Tree that I posted about here... On the CD liner, they dedicated the song to Lizzy and me, and Kari and Lizzy's anonymous donor... The refrain is "The stronger the wind is, the stronger the tree..." When I first heard it -- I told Sue that it reminded me of Lizzy and me, and the struggles in our journeys making us stronger... What's even cooler than the dedication she honored us with; Lizzy plays her didg in the version on the CD... Sue changed a line in the song to "Run a hundred miles high" to represent me and Liz climbing the Hancock... Lizzy passed away in 2007 waiting for another lung... She was an amazing girl.

On another front, though Laura doesn't like her because of the over-the-top vocal acrobatics, I also like that Celine Dion song with the lyrics, "You were my strength when I was weak, you were my voice when I couldn't speak..." But that might be more angled at the people who take care of us moreso than the people and families who save our lives...

I'll stop talking now...

Love, Steve

Just Me said...

Um, how about My Heart Will Go On...JUST kidding (maybe, unless you like that idea). I recently created a playlist of different kinds of songs on my blog. I do have Mariah Carey's Hero which I hadn't heard in a LONG time! You can see if any of those songs trigger your memory...if nothing else, you can see what "randomness" I came up with on one of my recent days off.

Good luck!

BreathinSteven said...

Me again again...

Another one I like -- but it might apply more to us lungers...

A procurement nurse I adore, Penny, emailed me and told me about this -- she said she had the album, and when she heard the song she immediately thought of me and Kari... I searched the web and found a link to the song on Josh Groban's website... Luckily it was late in the day, after everyone had left -- I'm sitting at my desk in tears after the first verse:

Who can say for certain
Maybe you’re still here
I feel you all around me
Your memories so clear


The rest of the damn song didn't help either -- towards the end, along with the refrain:

And I believe
That angels breathe
And that love will live on and never leave

Fly me up
To where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for awhile
To know you’re there
A breath away’s not far
To where you are


It's "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban... I've seen a number of presentations, mostly by donor family members, who borrow the song...

The whole damn "breath away" and angel's breathing left me somewhat of a wreck after about the fourth time I played it at my desk...

Just leaving you with another idea... Hope you're doing freakin' awesome!!!

Love, Steve

Anonymous said...

Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone
what do think????

BreathinSteven said...

Actually -- I like "Just Me's" suggestion about "My heart will go on..." Another one of those Celine Dion things that Laura puts up her nose at...

And frankly -- I love Avril Lavigne too... Maybe it's the young, girlie lungs, but I enjoy a lot of her music... And I do like "When you're gone..." Avril is another one where Laura moves for the button on the radio, then rolls her eyes remembering that I like it and leaves it on... Very tolerant girl, that Laura... Very tolerant...

Love, Steve