Five years ago today, I was re-born, thanks to my wonderful friends Ryan and Traci Ferguson.
 
They gave me a priceless gift of a kidney transplant on Sept. 12, 2018. They put their lives and careers on hold for six weeks to help me overcome life-altering daily physical and mental fatigue and uncertainty about my future caused by end-stage kidney disease. Their grand act of selflessness and sacrifice progressively allowed me to return to a life with energy, passion and purpose each day since. And just as importantly, if not more, both Ryan and Traci have continued to touch the lives of others.
 
It doesn’t seem much of a coincidence that Ryan and my birthdays are just one day apart – August 20th and 21st. Not only are Ryan and I both Leos, but I like to believe the three of us share even more important things in common such as drive, competitiveness, compassion and empathy. Their remarkable blessing alone is a lifetime of evidence of the latter two traits.
 
All three of us are thriving! To show how lives can flourish for both the organ donor and recipient, here’s just a few things we’ve done in words and photos, together and apart, the past five years.

Within a year after the transplant, Ryan and Traci built and moved into a new home in Ft. Collins. Colo. just before I built and moved into a new home in Leawood, Kan., where my Mom lives with me now after my Dad passed and my Brother moved from California to be close to us.

Each of our careers have given us professional purpose. Ryan continues his career as an Associate Partner of IBM’s Cloud Hybrid Services Group and Traci hers as a Park Planner for the City of Commerce City, Colo. I transitioned from full-time to branding and marketing consulting for companies in healthcare technology (Cerner, WellSky and now Amwell), financial services (Edelman Financial Engines) and scientific innovation enablement (CAS).

Ryan followed a passion to fly and earned his pilot's license this year. My passion for mentorship has led my two most recent mentees to morph into two incredible friends-like-family whom I’m eager to watch blossom throughout their lives.

We've all traveled extensively for fun. I've been to the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean twice each, in addition to Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, South Carolina, North Carolina and Oregon. I was honored to see where our nation's Declaration of Independence was conceived and signed, where the Liberty Bell rang, and where a young Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in “Rocky.” I went to see two iconic sports rivalries: Duke v. North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke (my Blue Devils won!) and Yankees v. Red Sox in Fenway Park.

Ryan and Traci combined international travel including to the Bahamas (five weeks after the transplant), Barcelona, Madagascar (bucket list!) with trips in the States including to New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine, Louisiana, Hawaii, Chicago, and camped at Glacier National Park (Montana), Yellowstone and all over Wyoming/Idaho/Colorado.

They regularly go to Red Rocks, which I got to visit with them. They’ve seen concerts including the Avett Brothers, Ben Folds, Jack Johnson and Pearl Jam. They also attend the WinterWonderGrass, a bluegrass festival in Steamboat Springs. They camp and float at Lake of the Ozarks, Lake Wappapello, Elephant Rocks State Park and Johnson Shut-Ins and go back to Missouri regularly to see their families in Camdenton and Adrian.

Of course, plenty of our journeys have been to see our Mizzou Tigers. Between the three of us, we’ve traveled to road games at Universities of Georgia, Boston College, Auburn, Kansas State, and Wyoming to rep our Tigers in addition to coming "home" frequently to cheer for Ol' Mizzou in Columbia!

Ryan and Traci obviously love music, but they love playing it too. Traci played guitar and Ryan played banjo at a dear friend's wedding. I joined my Mom and Brother to see my nephew get married in California. All of us continue to deepen our bonds with family and friends and develop new friendships.

Suffice to say, we’ve all kept moving, thinking, working, playing, connecting, learning and observing. We're all in a state of perpetual curiosity. An existential crisis like needing a transplant is an opportunity to think about what’s next. Whether you've had a health crisis or not, don't think too long. Start moving. Do things. Go places. Just thrive!

People work to live the life they want. Some get the luxury of work not feeling like work at all. Some reasons include fair compensation, perks and benefits, flexibility, and formal platforms that connect, include and value each employee. But in the best cultures, there’s more.
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They’re invisible. They’re not anything people “get.” In fact, they are something everyone from top to bottom can “give:” The most human of vibes that come from emotional intelligence. 

I’ve always been a dog person. They love unconditionally and always give and want attention. Cats are different. They love you when they feel like it – usually when they want to land the trifecta: food, attention or affection. Other than that, they are often indifferent.

Then I met my friends Clara’s and Vic’s cat Chester. Beyond his cuteness and cuddliness-on-demand - his demand - there is something special about him.

Chester certainly is interested in food, attention and affection, and so, so much more. He is never indifferent. His curiosity is endless. He is interested in chasing his tail as if it’s a separate living being and not an appendage. In climbing the Christmas tree to see what treasures or treats might lurk in the branches only to get stuck and meow for assistance. In pawing at every bag and box wondering if it contains food or toys, or something that he can turn into either. In every nook and cranny that leads him to get stuck in the three-inch space between the refrigerator and counter. In the photo above he’s finding wonder in a moment of either self-recognition or self-reflection staring at a portrait of him and his big sister Chunky.
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All these observations made me realize what’s so special about Chester. He is perpetually curious. A lifetime learner. There are lessons in that for all of us humans.

​If you’ve ever been on a safari, watch Animal Planet or your curiosity about animal behavior drives TikTok’s or Instagram’s algorithms to serve you videos of predators hunting the most “organic” of prey in the wild, you may have seen the difference in how lions and tigers find and dine on their meals.
 
If you do none of the above, just know that lions hunt in packs and they don’t mind sharing the spoils of their victory with their brethren. Tigers hunt alone and they are not prone to passing the plate to anyone, not even another tiger.
 
So lions must be great teammates and tigers must be selfish, right? Not so fast.

Figuring Christmas night would an easier night to travel rather than fight the masses the day after, and appreciating paying less than half the cost, I booked Southwest Airlines flights from Greenville, South Carolina through Atlanta back home to Kansas City. You probably can guess the travel hell I had entered...but lucky for so many of us who dared to fly that night, there were also angels in that hell.

​My flight got delayed two hours in Greenville, but the gate agent there said our connecting flight in Atlanta was also delayed so they would likely hold it for the 11 people connecting to Kansas City. Upon landing in Atlanta, we rushed to the connecting gate only to find out that our flight went from “delayed” to “cancelled.” And from the looks of lines about 40 deep at each gate of Terminal C in Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world’s busiest, so had nearly every other Southwest flight.

The biggest opportunities always seem larger than life. A college application to your No. 1 choice. The bar exam. The perfect job. A health scare. A championship game. The outcome elicits visceral joy or profound heartbreak. Nothing much in between. You win or lose.
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But it doesn’t have to be so black and white. At least beyond the moment.

I have a friend who has been a flight attendant her entire career. She has traveled the world for American Airlines and I can see considers it much more than a job. Rather than just make a living, she lives life. And always in a perpetual state of curiosity. I can see her passion for experiencing different cultures, histories and people. She certainly amplifies the saying “Do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

The best part is she shares her travels with all of her friends and family by posting photos and videos, and even more importantly, describing the experiences, interactions with and observations of the people of each culture.

Her curiosity allows her to learn and experience, but also share what she observes and absorbs with many who may not have ever been or ever be within close proximity of the many people with whom she crosses paths.