November 25, 2010

There were 3 posts published on November 25, 2010 (this is page 1 of 1).

Gerry lives on through his gift of lungs

My late friend Gerry was an organ donor at the time he died in a car wreck. Through the gift of his organs and tissue he gave four people he never met new life.

His wife Mandy and their families got a chance to meet one donor recipient earlier this month: the recipient of Gerry’s lungs. UNC Health Care created a profound video and story of the meeting, showing how Gerry’s gift changed the recipient’s life. Watching Gerr’y’s mom Pat as she listened to Gerry’s lungs brought tears to my eyes.

What an amazing gift of life from an amazingly generous friend.

News media latches on to smoking in parks issue

I’ve always wondered why the news media constantly fails to cover the happenings of Raleigh’s parks department and its board. Parks is a huge city department and Raleigh’s abundant parks are enjoyed by so many citizens that it’s easy to assume that a reporter would be present at the board meetings. Such is not the case. In the two years I’ve been on the board, the only reporter I’ve seen at a meeting is the Independent Weekly’s Bob Geary, who was there when the board discussed the Honeycutt Creek greenway route.
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Smoking in parks

My ire for littering is well-known. It annoys me to no end that some smokers think the world is their ashtray. Anytime I see some careless bastard tossing a cigarette out their window, I send their license plate number to the NCDOT’s Swat-A-Litterbug page, resulting in a nastygram being mailed to them from the highway patrol. I’d venture to guess I’m one of their top litter reporters.
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