It starts with a phone call.
The one moment in life that every parent dreads
A nightmare every parent prays will never happen. A mad rush to the hospital. An anxious eternity. You finally arrive and burst through the doors. A doctor comes out, maybe two. Their faces tell you what you don’t want to know.
It’s over.
Your child has passed. Gone. Grief forever sears the moment in your memory. Overwhelming sadness drags your heart into, and then below, a bottomless pit. A primordial scream forms.
But the medical people are speaking to you.
Your son, your baby, your beloved gift from God, is gone; but these people continue talking. Can’t they stop? They force you to listen.
They tell you your son was an organ donor.
Timing is critical. Organ donor? You didn’t know. That’s how Vickie Jackson, a Cincom employee that works with me, found out. Her son Brandon Jackson, recently returned from the Iraq war, in his quiet dignity, had registered to be an organ donor. The medical people asked for her permission to begin the organ donation process.
The primordial scream turns into a “No! No! No!” Not my baby. Her mind went back in time. Where had this precious life gone? So fleeting. Where had the little boy in the blue suit gone?
So unpredictable. So quickly gone.
“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.” - Aeschylus
Brandon had grown into a loving, fun, strong, handsome young man.
Reliable. Dedicated. He served his country in Iraq.
He often did good deeds, but never mentioned them to his mom. Later, people would tell her stories about how Brandon many times had gone out of his way to help them. “He would just do something kind, and it was between him, the other person and God,” remembered his mom, Vickie.
Life.
Fleeting.
Precious.
Unpredictable.
The medical people were still there. Still talking. Asking for her permission to start the organ donation process. Time was critical. Brandon kept secrets. Like all children. Like all children that grow into adults.
“If you want to confide in someone who will never tell your business, tell it to Brandon,” his grandmother used to say. This secret, revealed at this time, in this way, was almost too much for any person to take. Yet it demanded immediate action on her part. But it was her baby they were asking about. And … he had never told her he was an organ donor.
Life. So fleeting. So precious. So quickly gone. Little things, seemingly minor at the time, so meaningful now. Handwritten special notes of love.
Even if they were on a paper plate. The flowers. The flowers—just to let you know he loved you. The thanks.
The thought and the timing of the organ donation process were horrific. In one of those brief interludes of silence, when lucidity temporarily overwhelms tragedy and pushes back personal grief, Vickie Jackson made the decision. She listened to her memories. Brandon had wanted it; she would follow his wishes. She would honor his memory.
Vicki Jackson would respect his choice. And in doing so – she passed life on.
“In my heart and mind, Brandon is a noble testimony of giving—still living, breathing and enjoying life somewhere. Can you imagine being in four or five places at the same time enjoying life? That’s how I imagine Brandon. I may not be able to touch him right now, or hear his voice, but I know he is all over the country within some blessed recipient.” – Vickie Jackson, Mother of Brandon Jackson, organ donor.
Life. Pass it On. Brandon did.
Did You Know?
Did you know more that 98,000 people are in need of an organ transplant in the United States right now?
Did you know that each day about 77 people get the organ transplant that gives them a second chance, but 17 to 19 others die because they did not receive an organ transplant?
Vickie Jackson works for Cincom Systems in Cincinnati, Ohio. Because of her experience she is now a spokesperson and advocate for the Life Center Organ Donor Network. Vickie can be reached by email at vjackson@cincom.com
For more information: www.lifepassiton.org
In Ohio: http://donatelifeohio.org/ohiodonorregistry/index.aspx
In Kentucky: https://www.donatelifeky.org/NewRegistration.aspx
In the United States: http://www.donatelife.net
Throughout the World: Contact your physician or your organ-donation advocate organization for more information on registration.
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This is great and I wish if everyone think and do a small deed for other. Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy and help others to enjoy every moment of life.
Steve, I really appreciate this deed of helping other.
Thanks Steve,
Thanks Vickie,
Thanks Brandon,
For a beautiful Christmas gift to everyone. We never forget our loved ones who become part of the river that passes from here to eternity. But it is a special gift to leave part of our physical being back here to help others … our spirits don’t miss an organ or two.
And Brandon can look down now knowing he helped other families hold onto loved ones a bit longer.
But even more important was the live he lived when here and the notes and thoughts and kindnesses that linger.
The real gift we can all give one another is love and forgiveness. Help those around us to get better — especially those who we don’t particularly like. Great is the gift of love.
Brandon’s mother still emails me about once a week, even though I no longer work with her at Cincom. She sends me messages of hope and love. She extends the hand of God to all she meets.
I am not sure anyone will want my tired old organs when I cross the river, but I am an organ donor just in case.
I hope everyone will extend God’s hand the way Brandon did.
I learned later than I should have haht there are only tow master messages in life — Love and Fear. Everything we see, say, or hear can be hung under one of them. This is a magnificent Love message — Vickie’s from the soul, Steve’s from the heart of a compassionate craftsman who knows how to touch the humanity in us all. I salute you both, with admiration and affection! w
I learned later than I should have that there are only two master messages in life — Love and Fear. Everything we see, say, or hear can be hung under one of them. This is a magnificent Love message — Vickie’s from the soul, Steve’s from the heart of a compassionate craftsman who knows how to touch the humanity in us all. I salute you both, with admiration and affection! w
Thank you Doctor Woodrow Sears. Coming from you this is a tribute of the highest magnitude.
Steve,
What a beautiful and sad story. God Bless Brandon and his family. Honestly what a blessing to have you writing stories like this for all of us to keep in mind how very fragile life is and what a gift it is.
Nettie
[...] Read the complete story of Vickie Jackson, a Cincom employee … “Life … Pass it on.” [...]
I am an organ donor myself. I was very hesitant at first but after reading stories like this I had a change of heart and if God forbid I am taken away from this planet before I choose to do so, I at least I can help others. What a beautiful post.
This reminds me of when I was a very young boy, I heard my mom and dad talking about organ donation from the back seat of our car. I started crying uncontrolably, most likely a mixture of the thought of losing one of them and the thought also of their bodies being taken apart in their death. I was too young to know of the soul. The soul that this soldier and his mother share in it’s mortal loss. I am still crying at the thought of losing my parents, now 40 years later, but thankfully, though often through pain, I know the soul does move on. I am so thankful that I stumbled upon this website today, if for nothing else than to have heard the line from Mr. Dale Woods above, “We never forget our loved ones who become part of the river that passes from here to eternity”. A river is alive, not bound by the banks on either side, constantly going to new places as it makes its progress to the sea.
Thank you for the great honor of attending your Life Center Community Breakfast this week. It was a morning that I will not soon forget. I am a hospice administrator for Grace Hospice, in Cincinnati. I realize that our patients are generally an elderly population, but if I can be of help , as far as tissue donation, please enlighten me and I will pursue this with our clientele.
Although I always check the box on the back of my license, to be a donor, I never realized the impact that the check-mark can hold. I will always think differently, in the future, as I check the box to be a donor.
Thank you again for the opportunity to attend the breakfast. I hope to be able to participate in future events.
Sincerely,
Norma Dean
Norma Dean, RN, BSN
Administrator
Grace Hospice of Ohio
Cincinnati Division
2100 Sherman Avenue, #103
Cincinnati, OH 45212
Phone: (513) 458-5545
Fax: (513) 458-5549
ndean@ghospice.com
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responds to this feed. Steve Did a wonderful thing. I often want to thank him for his works of Words/and his great connection with the WEB. As I often pass him here@ Cincom. But I like to let my mind journey in knowing one day he will flow in the same waters with Brandon. I recall cooking and Brandon sneaking up behind me to tickle me. Thats how he lived quietly, enexpectedly passing on laughter and life. Brandon is still alive in others through his gift of life. I know his donor recepients (4) are enjoying a 2nd chance of life because of his Gift to GIVE. And I am a far better person because of all the things I learned from my son. Thanking the Almighty for choosing me to birth such a beautiful being. Brandon taught something I would have never known *Being a mother.* He taught me,and he still teaches me everyday, I’m a better person reflecting on lessons learned from him. Acknowledge your gifts now because they will forever flow…….