Well, I had planned on writing an article on love, seeing as this weekend is Valentine’s.

But then something happened that affected me so much, I just had to write about it.

I found out an old friend that I had grown up with was having surgery in order to donate one of his kidneys, to someone he didn’t know.

We are not talking about throwing a couple of dollars into the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas or donating used clothing to Goodwill (which are both wonderful things to do, by the way). This man is having surgery in order to donate a kidney!

It got me to thinking about how there are some really good people in this world.

We don’t hear about them much. Usually the news likes to report the wars, murders, robberies and other catastrophes that happen around the world. “If it bleeds it leads” is the common phrase jokingly used to describe what news story is likely to take the spot on the front page or the lead in the local news. The especially sad part about this is that the news wouldn’t report it if we didn’t watch it. So apparently we as a society prefer to hear bad news instead of good.

Maybe we should think about changing that.

I started looking around to find some local heroes in my area. No, I’m not talking about the hit television show. I’m talking about ordinary, everyday people who have gone out of their way to make somebody else’s life better. These people don’t have super powers, but what they do have are huge hearts and a desire to help others.

Adam Cashin was born with a congenital kidney problem; basically his kidneys were withered and could not handle the functions of a normal body. He spent the first 16 years of his life attached to a catheter. At 16, however, even that was not enough, and he needed a kidney transplant. Luckily his mother was a match. So he underwent his first transplant.

But then at 32, his donor kidney began to fail as well. He needed a 2nd donor. Unbelievably his little sister Nugent was a perfect match. She did not think twice and said “yes” to a transplant surgery. When asked what her brother was going to do in return for her? “He’ll probably get me a pedicure or something.” If I were her brother, I think I would be getting her pedicures and manicures for life!

In 2002 Leslie Cameron’s sister, Liz passed away from brain cancer. Before her illness took her however, the two sisters hosted a night of pampering; including massages, manicures and pedicures, and gift baskets for all the friends that had given them support.

Leslie was so impressed with how special the event was to her sister and her friends that she teamed up with her neighbor, Shara Aycock to make this type of function available to other women suffering from cancer. Thus Confetti Celebrations was born.

I personally got to experience Confetti Celebrations back in 2006 when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had been nominated by a friend to be able to attend this retreat, and everyone who is selected to attend gets to invite a friend or loved one to go with them. The purpose being, that it is easier to get through hard times when you have someone who loves you beside you. I had been battling with my Depression, so my mother-in-law thought the retreat would be healing for me mentally just as it was for her physically.

The two ladies have personally set about to make women with any type of cancer feel loved, pampered and healthy. They come away from the weekend feeling rested, refreshed and with new friends that understand exactly what they are going through, because they are going through the exact same thing themselves.

We of course think of all of our soldiers in Iraq as heroes, but Staff Sgt. Joe Neely deserves the title for more than one reason. After seeing how the handicapped and elderly in Baghdad had such difficulty in getting around and that they were basically ignored, Staff Sgt. Neely decided he needed to help out.

With the help of his ex-wife, Sara Kleese & and unnamed Iraqi interpreter (name withheld for safety purposes) Neely was able to purchase and ship wheelchairs from the US to Baghdad. These wheelchairs were then given to the physically handicapped children and Sr. citizens that Sgt. Neely had been working with on a daily basis. So this soldier is a hero to both the American people and the Iraqi.

Of course I would be remiss if I did not mention our everyday heroes such as our Firemen, Police Officers, EMTs, and Teachers. Those people in our lives that we take for granted too often but perform such amazing tasks for the rest of us.

As I look back over all these good folk that I have mentioned I cannot help but wonder what makes them do the things they do. What makes them give so much of themselves to others, to complete strangers?

Then it hit me; it is Love.
So maybe I did write for Valentine’s after all.