So here we are! 30 days later and I didn’t miss a day. Well, sorta. I missed one day but that was only because I broke the internet and couldn’t get online that night. But I compensated and posted twice the second day. Not bad! I want to thank each and every one of you who participated whether it was for one week or the entire month! It’s something we’ll do again soon, I promise. And I promise next time I’ll be better about reading everyone’s blogs and commenting them!

I regret that I didn’t talk more about my brother or the charity I was blogging for, so I want to do that right now. I chose The American Heart Association because it’s a charity organization I hold very close to my heart. My brother, who was two years older than me, was born with a congenital heart condition called tricuspid atresia. Which means he was born without a right ventricle and he only had 3/4 of a heart. Basically they knew this pretty shortly after he was born because he was what they call a “blue baby” and they had to do a surgical procedure on him as soon as possible so he would survive. He had a number of surgeries and procedures done and was medicated all his life for it. But no matter what he was such a brave kid and never used his condition as an excuse. In fact, most people never were able to even tell there was anything wrong with him.

As his little sister I always looked up to him. In the hardest part of our lives, our parent’s divorce, he was my rock. He took good care of me and was the best brother anyone could ever ask for. He made me laugh in a way that nobody else could. He was like that with everyone, his smile lit up the room. He was such a nice person too and everyone he came into contact with absolutely loved him right off the bat. One of his greatest passions was football. Something that I am 100% sure he would’ve pursued if his health would have allowed him, but instead he was just the biggest Redskins fan you would ever meet. He lived for football season. He watched Sports Center every day of the week. He’d wear a full blown football uniform on game day. He played a little baseball as a kid, but the hot summers were brutal on him. He always sweat more than the average person.

But once again, instead of giving up and being lazy and making excuses, he always kept going. He found a passion for Computers very early on. My Mom was into computers before they really boomed so we both kinda picked it up from that. Computers was something he could handle regardless of his heart. He quickly became your typical “computer geek”. He started to learn how to program, started up his own BBS called Sweet Dreams. Programmed a few add-ons for the popular BBS MMO, Legend of the Red Dragon which I helped write and brainstorm ideas for. We made a great team on projects like that. I wish I had encouraged more of them. He helped me set up the very first version of Transcending Bliss too. I even eventually pitched an idea of a website with a similar premise to neopets and the original subeta that we were going to jump into.

For many years things were “normal”. It was easy to forget that he had a heart condition. That is until his annual cardiologist appointments. One year when he was towards the end of his High School years we went to one such Cardiologist appointment, crossing our fingers for another “thumbs up, see ya next year!” when the first bomb dropped. They discovered his heart had jumped into an irregular rhythm. They told us that we had to admit him to the hospital, put him on blood thinners and they were going to cardiovert him. Which is to say, they were going to use the paddles and shock his heart back into the correct rhythm. I remember being there that day and seeing the doctor hand my Mom the form she had to sign where it basically warned her that he “could” die and it suddenly hit me. I might actually lose him. I remember breaking down at that realization. I was so thankful when everything went as planned.

Fast forward a few more years. Within that time, he remained on blood thinners and had various cases where his heart once again jumped back into an irregular rhythm and he had to go back in for another cardioversion. Eventually it got to the point where each time they’d tell us.. “We’ll try this one more time, but we might have to start thinking about different options.”

After one such cardioversion they dropped the second bomb on us. He was in heart failure. He needed to go to Chicago as soon as possible to have open-heart surgery. He basically, at 23 years old, had out-grown one of the procedures they had done when he was little and they needed to fix it. So my Mom and Brother went to Chicago and I stayed home and house-sat and took care of our new puppies for nearly the entire month of October of 2005 and into part of November. That was so terrifying for me. I wanted so much to be there. I kept thinking.. what if the last time I ever got to see him was before he left for Chicago? And I honestly don’t even remember how I made it through that month. I couldn’t tell you what I ate, or what I did. I mostly remember not feeling up to doing anything and coming home and watching my Popular DVDs. Anyway, he breezed through the surgery. They said that he was one of the smoothest out of everyone who had ever had that procedure done. When he finally came home, I was so happy. It was like I could finally enjoy my Holiday season.

A few short months later, that Spring. Aaron started feeling funny. He made an appointment to go in to see the cardiologist. This is when the third bomb was dropped on us. He was back in heart failure. This time there were no other options except to be listed for a heart transplant. It seemed so unreal. I mean, we always knew that eventually this could be a possibility, but we never thought that it would be so soon! He had just turned 24! Basically they gave him some medicine through an IV that beefed up his heart enough so that he could continue living his life until he got a heart. Unfortunately each time he got that medicine it only lasted about 2 weeks and he’d start going downhill again. One Sunday Morning at Church, I was sitting in the front row and Aaron was towards the back with his girlfriend and in the middle of the sermon, the pastor stopped and asked if anyone could “help”. I looked back in horror when I realize that it was my own brother that had passed out in the middle of the service. One of our friends was already calling our Mom and someone else called 911. After that incident, they didn’t let him leave the hospital. He had to live in the hospital until he received a heart.

I think he was in there for about a month or so. And I know if it was me, having to live in a hospital awaiting a heart transplant.. I can’t imagine I could have ever had a positive attitude. But he never played the “poor me” card. He was always positive and uplifting and happy. He even threw parties in this community room across the hall from his hospital room. He also took the time to talk to the other patients on his floor also waiting for transplants or in there because they caught an infection and their body was rejecting their new heart. If they didn’t want to talk to him, he’d understand but he’d keep trying. He’d talk to them and share his story. He’d talk to them about Jesus. He was just that kind of person. In the midst of all of that, he never stopped. He always had a purpose. That’s why he graduated at the top of his class in High School, that’s why he graduated from College as an Information Science Major, that’s why he worked for NASA and the U.S. Coast Guard. He never let anything get in his way and he had such strong Faith. If you had asked him if he was afraid. He would say.. “No! Why would I be afraid? Either I get a brand new heart and get to live a longer life and do things I’ve never been able to do, or I go to Heaven and meet my Lord and Savior.” And he meant it!

Labor Day weekend in 2006. We got a call at 5AM. They found the “perfect match”. You can read how the rest of the story went down right here. But complications arose from the transplant surgery and he went to be with Jesus. We were shocked and devastated. But we were at peace with it. We knew he was happy either way and we were glad that his long life of doctor’s appointments, pain, and sacrifice was over. He was healed, for good.

Anyway.. he brought joy to everyone he knew and the impact he left on this Earth, still reveals itself. We can’t even fathom the difference he made in so many lives and the impact he’s still making every time I share his story. He really was an amazing person. I know, without a doubt, he’s up in Heaven, partying with Jesus and smiling down on us all.

20 minutes left of the day and once again here I am with a late post. I feel like I’ve been busy all day today but I didn’t get anything done that I wanted to. I’m not even sure what consumed all my time. It must have been Subeta. I’ve been trying like a fiend to finish getting all the Fireside achievements. I finally got them all a few minutes ago so now hopefully I can get done what I need to get done. The funny thing is I had 5 days to get my stuff done and I haven’t done any of it. So tomorrow I hope to get an early start to the day. First priority is the bracelets I need to make. I slacked off all weekend because I know they won’t get sent out until Tuesday anyway.

I also want to at least vacuum the house. Bringing in all the Christmas stuff and setting up the Christmas tree has the carpet littered with trash. I need to finish the laundry (some of which we did this weekend, thank goodness!), clean up the kitchen and get dinner ready.

My Mom doesn’t have work tomorrow but she won’t be here all day. She’s going in for a radioactive stress test. Everyone please pray that they won’t find anything serious and that my Mom can handle the stress test. I’m trying to be positive and keep the attitude of “She’s fine. Everything will be okay.” but deep down I’m terrified. I know it’s inevitable and I should get used to the fact that my Mom isn’t going to live forever, but I can’t lose her now. I just can’t. It would destroy me. So hopefully they find that there isn’t anything serious and that the mild heart attack she had at some point didn’t damage her heart too bad.

Church was very inspiring this morning. My Dad’s video clip was wonderful, as expected. I join in showing gratitude to my church, the church staff, the people who contribute their time and money. I know my life would be so different right now if I had never come to Waters Edge and I am so blessed to constantly see the impact my church makes, even in the life of my family members. If you guys are at all curious, you can listen to the sermon here! My Dad is the last person interviewed. It also shares a little bit of my brother’s story. So I guess it’s appropriate since I’ve been saying I would talk about it for the Blogathon!

Speaking of the Blogathon. Tomorrow is the last day! I can’t believe it! I’ll make it a good post tomorrow! Gotta end it with a bang, right?