Renal Transplant - nostalgic reflection

Alhamdulillah..all praise be to Allah! Today is 19th of August 2007...exactly 19 years ago, this date, i had a new lease of life, a second chance to life, when i went through my renal transplant. Life has been kind since that day onwards...although i lost my second pregnancy after that, but all praise be to Allah, i now have 2 beautiful intelligent boys, Ashraf and Zakiy, the apples of my eyes.
I have been free of dialysis for 19 years now, n hope it will be so till the day i die. I surrendered my life to the Will of Allah when my kidneys failed me before, n so now too i surrender it to Allah too. One can only pray for the best, right. I am thankful to Allah, forever, eternally grateful to the Almighty.
U know what..my heart goes out to all those renal failure patients out there - living on dialysis machine, or on the CAPD or even worse, on the weekly PD is no life for anyone. For that, i m ever so grateful to my sister Oni, who came up 19 years ago n gave me one of her kidneys...just like that. When i asked her,"Why did you do it?" her answer was simple enough, but most profound to me,"You are my sister, and i love you." To me that is the real definition of unconditional love. I have honored her in an article i wrote n sent to the Women's Weekly magazine in US which was published in 1990, 2 years after my renal transplant.
I pray for all those end stage renal failure patients, that you too would be as fortunate and as blessed as i was. Dont give up hope..hope sometimes is just around the corner. Just remember the saying of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), "every pain that is inflicted 0n one is accompanied with the expiation of his sin" and take comfort in that.
As for those of you who have toyed with the idea of being an organ donor, dont hesitate, do it now! Some one, some where...needs you.