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What the Holiday Party Meant to me

Christmas for me this year has a whole different meaning than it has had in the past. I was lucky enough to celebrate my new life with a crowd of 500+people that share the same feeling as I do at the Transplant Foundation Holiday Party 12/9. Coincidentally, it was also my 5 month anniversary since my double lung transplant.
 
It was an overwhelming and emotional experience for me and my family. Being able to be there and celebrate my new life was something that we didn’t expect would come. The tree ceremony was the most impacting on me and I will never forget what I felt the moment I was putting on my butterfly ornament in remembrance and as a thank you to my donor family, which I hope to meet one day. But the party wasn’t all tears. It was lots of laughter with a lot of new friends that I met and got a chance to talk to about what it’s like living the way we do now. It was especially great to see the kids laughing and running around with excitement that Santa and Elmo came to visit them. For that one moment, you can see how the kids forgot all the hardships they have had to endure at such a short life.
 
I am very thankful and grateful that I got to experience such a wonderful day, and I thank the Transplant Foundation for doing this for us—the recipients and their families, and for always thinking of those that gave us a second chance at life.

 
Elizabeth Carrera
25 yrs old