Be a Life Saver!

C'Aira is my first best friend. We're first cousins. We grew up together and both shared a strong bond with our grandfather before he passed. My mom often jokes about how when I was younger I didn't know that kids outside of C'Aira and I existed and that if she wanted me to eat, she would have to retrieve C'Aira. We spent lots of time at our family cabin in UpNorth Michigan as children and developed our love of Blue Moon ice cream with waffle cones there too. In the 90s we considered it a treat to go to the video store with Granddad to each pick a movie to last us the entire week. She is the reason I detest the Lion King to this day, however I still enjoy the Olsen twins, It Takes Two. Even though she is 1 year 1 month and 6 days older than I, her mere status as my big cousin often meant she got to pick movies and go places I couldn't/do things I couldn't do. As an adult, i never let her forget the small difference between us. As adults we uphold the traditions our grandfather enjoyed, the main one being Christmas. Grandpa was big on Christmas and so are we. We decorate a grave blanket in his memory at the cemetery each year with our siblings and other first cousins. What I most admire about my cousin is her dedication to her family especially her late grandmother and her children. She gives everything to children spending what feels like 7/7 days a week on somebody's baseball field. All three of her children play, travel baseball is an expensive endeavor yet she accommodates all of her excess time and resources for her child's enjoyment. Taking little time for herself she is her children's everything. Though her children have an active father, when her children learned she was ill, they questioned who would take of them. She laughed and told them dad. I don't think they bought it. I am very career oriented and she often jokes that when I'm ready to have children she will take care of them for me. I may take her up on that offer if my partner lets me. Since the passing of her grandmother she does everything for everyone without receiving much in return. She is self less and a God fearing woman. She's the type of person who does even when she doesn't have without asking for anything in return. And i pray that at this stage in her life, her children don't have to do without.

Kidney failure has stolen C'Aira's energy and her physical strength. She's often tried and as a result has limited energy to wash clothes, grocery shop, and tend to an extremely active and curious 6 year old. Despite this she never misses a baseball game.

A transplant would mean allowing her to be around long enough to raise her children. Living long enough to see her children into adulthood is her biggest desire.

Save a life. Consider direct or a 4 person transplant and save 2 lives. The process is easy. There's so much support out there. My biggest fear was whether I could get pregnant and give birth. Guess what, I can. No insurance, no problem. You only need one kidney bean to have a full life, why not share? I wasn't a match but would gladly give to someone who could.