Give the Ultimate Gift this Season…

Isn’t it tragic, that it’s nearly 2019 and we still need to talk about the benefits of being an organ donor?

Maybe it’s the phrasing…”Organ Donation”…kind of rubs people the wrong way.  Freaks people out as they say.

First, it’s the cheapest gift you can give, not only at this time of year, but at any time.  And you’ll never give a nicer gift to anyone…ever.  And the easiest too.  Just check a little box the next time you renew your license.

Please, please get past the gloomy thoughts of your eventual deaths.  You are not going to be the first person who doesn’t die.  Billions of people wiser and tougher and smarter than you have died, and so, one day, shall we all.  Aristotle…Edison…Hercules…even Jesus.  Aren’t we all entitled to live the longest life that we can?

Argument Number One against organ donation:  “If I end up in the hospital sick, doctors will not make an effort to really save me if they realize I’m an organ donor and a patient they know needs a liver, or a heart.”  Really?  Really?  Wake the hell up, people!  This isn’t a movie.  This is real life, not reel life…and real death.

Argument Number Two: “Why should I give up my liver so someone who drank whiskey their entire life can continue on drinking with my liver inside them?”  First of all, you’re not giving up anything.  YOU ARE DEAD at this point.  Under what delusion do you think you’re floating into some sort of afterlife with all of your eternal organs intact?

Argument Number Three:  “If my body is not intact, I’ll never be accepted into heaven”.  My personal favorite.  Don’t you think, for a moment, that if you gave the ultimate gift of life to another human being, God would, you know, reward you somehow?  Can you really imagine passing by St. Peter at the pearly gates and he’s waving you up and down with one of those airports wands…”Oh, sorry, only one kidney…Hey, hold that down elevator for this guy”.

Failing to sign up as an organ donor is just another way to show to the world that you are too selfish to do something truly life-changing for your fellow humans that you leave behind.

It costs you nothing.  NOTHING.  What else nowadays can you get for nothing, that gives someone else EVERYTHING.  And for people who are being cremated, well, what is the point of burning up your organs when you go?  They’re not doing any good sitting on someone’s mantle!  Wouldn’t you rather your wife or your daughter receive a photo and a card thanking you for the gift of life?

Whatever your faith or lack thereof, organ donation exemplifies what being human is truly about.  Do you know anyone who is on dialysis?  Do you understand the pain of that process?  How about someone who is blind?  Someone whose heart is failing?  Another whose liver is so bad they can’t get out of bed?  All because they chose to donate blood 15 years ago and developed an infection.

If you’re an organ donor, thank you for participating in the human race.  If you’re not, you have no excuse.  None.  It’s that simple.  Donate your organs.  Or better yet, donate your entire body to science.  Or in my case, to science fiction.  Give blood.  Isn’t it a good thought to know part of you will live on in someone else after you’re gone?

Still can’t accept the fact that one day you will be gone?  That’s your problem.  Once you come to that conclusion, organ donation becomes not only sensible, it becomes mandatory.  Speaking of which, if I ruled the world, organ donation would be mandatory.

You don’t have to wait to lose a family member or friend to have this become a, “cause” for you.  Do me a favor.  Do yourself a favor.  Check that little box.  Do it before you check into your permanent box.

And personally, I hope that when all my Democrat friends go, they insist their organs be transplanted only into Republicans.  We’ll start working on them from the inside out.

Assuming they have decent health care.