Goodbye Dave

If you read this blog over the past year you probably might recall that I was a stem cell donor last February to a man with leukemia. I called him Dave. I did not know his real name owing to the privacy agreements we all had to sign on to, but I had to call him something. I had to because even though I did not know anything of his life, his family, what he believed in or disbelieved... I was invested in this stranger's well being. I found myself to be the unknown cheerleader wishing him strength and recovery from that disease.

I learned a little more than a week ago that my anonymous friend lost his battle. At first I was just stunned to hear that he was gone and then I began to think of who else was affected by his passing. I don't know if he had a wife and children. I imagined who might have been there to mourn his loss and hopefully celebrate the life he led. I wished that I could have stood quietly there in the background as his family bid him farewell.

I hoped that someday I could have met him, to take a private walk with him on a summer evening and thank him for allowing me to do the best thing I have ever done, to get to know this man who I called Dave. Rest well Dave. You will be remembered.