‘Twas
a month before Christmas
And
all through the place
Fear
hung in the air,
It
was seen on each face.
Joe’s
heart was the topic,
It
was weak and real slow;
The
thought of it all
Made
us all feel so low.
He
needed a new one,
That
we all knew;
But
new hearts are rare,
There
are precious few.
So
we waited and prayed
And
as the days and nights passed,
We
prayed even harder
That
he’d get a heart fast.
Mere
months had we known them,
Donna,
Dixon and Joe,
But
lo and behold,
What
do you know...
Our
love for them grew
And
before we realized,
They’d
become part of our family,
Huge
parts of our lives.
A
friendship was born,
A
blessing to be sure;
the
first miracle of two,
But
wait, there’s still more.
We
learned of their lives,
Their
pain and their strife;
In
the process they taught us
A
lot about life.
Their
love for each other
Was
something to adore,
And
for my Joe and me
It’s
what we strove for.
From
the day we met them
We
sensed a love so strong;
Each
breath they took
Helped
the other go on.
The
love in their eyes
Was
a gift, you see;
Their
gift to each other,
And
to my friends and me.
The
bond we developed
Grew
strong indeed;
And
it hurt us terribly
Seeing
our friend in need.
Seeing
Joe that sick,
Watching
Donna fret;
We
stepped up our prayers,
“A
heart he must get!”
The
call came on the third,
A
heart had been found;
We
jumped from our seats
With
a leap and a bound.
The
second miracle was here,
It
was tears of joy that we shed;
Hugging
and crying,
Thoughts
running through our head.
We
raced to the hospital
And
there we saw Joe;
He
was smiling and anxious,
All
ready to go.
Donna
and her Joe,
Me
and mine,
We
hugged and assured each other
All
would be fine.
My
Joe and I left
When
the medical team came;
There’d
be no sleep for them tonight,
For
us it was the same.
The
hours dragged on,
The
night turned to day;
Sun
finally broke through
On
a day that started so gray.
It
hadn’t been easy,
But
Joe had pulled through;
Donna
knew he would make it,
And
we knew it, too.
The
next day came
And
the news couldn’t be beat;
Joe
was awake
And
he wanted to eat!
And
though the weather is cold
Our
own hearts grow warmer
With
each piece of news that we’re told.
His
color has gone
From
gray to light pink;
He’s
strong as an ox,
At
least that’s what I think.
A
new heart beat strongly
In
Joe’s chest tonight;
Each
beat reminds us
That
he fights the good fight.
The
blessings this Christmas
Are
too many to say,
But
starting with these two
Leads
us well on our way.
Thank
you, Dear God,
For
Joe’s new heart;
For
with it, we know,
Comes
a brand new start.
For
the donor we pray,
For
his time was too brief;
We
ask comfort for his family
In
their time of grief.
So
as Christmas draws near
And
the year comes to an end,
We
give thanks for so much,
Especially
our new friends.
Sure
there’s a Santa,
We
know it too well;
Our
gift this year
To
you is to tell;
It’s
the spirit that lives
In
each of us here,
And
in that of the people
We
hold most dear.
This
Christmas we give thanks
With
glory and might;
And
as the Big Guy himself says,
“To
all a good night!”