Today is a very special day.  Many of you have probably heard me talk about my Ukrainian friend Larysa over the past three years.  If you haven’t, ask me about her sometime as her story is literally the most incredible one you will ever hear.  Oprah-worthy!  Today is special though because two years ago on May 3rd, Larysa underwent one of the most invasive and terrifying surgeries known to man – a double lung transplant.  An unbelievable surgery.  Recovery was much more than excruciating, but being such a brave, courageous, and strong individual, she made it through and doesn’t need her oxygen tank anymore.  It has been quite a journey – just getting to the procedure itself was a lot of time and effort, and financial miracles!…and then of course the surgery and recovery were physical, spiritual, and scientific miracles, and then even adapting to life after the surgery was its own challenge as being a transplantee comes with a litany of rules.  But I must say that having the privilege of being her friend along the way has been one of the greatest honors I could ever have.  The picture to the left is one of my all-time favorite photographs of her, taken a year or so before her transplant.  You would never know by looking at her how sick she was.  Truly a beautiful young lady both inside and out.  She has touched countless lives in countless ways and continues to inspire me all the time and always remember how precious life is.  Please consider signing up to be an organ donor.  Larysa is an example – organ donation really is the gift of life.  It is safe to say that without her new lungs, Larysa would not be here today.

As is tradition, we of course needed to celebrate the day, so I brought little Landri by the office to visit before our lunch date.  And at the office, she was really showing off her mobility skills to all my friends. I’ve been saying that she’s “five seconds from crawling” for a while now and that she can “get around” without a traditional crawling technique, but she really seemed to step it up today in front of her big audience!  Her dress was a bit long, so she kept tripping on it and so when we got home later, I stripped her down and let her go.  It is official people, we have a crawler!  And pretty cool that it was on Larysa’s transplant anniversary – I will always remember that!  I’m posting a video below of her chasing after Scott’s keys.  Also, quite a few of you have inquired about how on earth that was a knee in the last post’s picture… well, here’s a zoomed out view of that glorious knee dimple!  Incredible, right?