My Secret Santa gave me the best gift… and a lovely mug

So this was my first year participating in Reddit’s Secret Santa exchange. I signed up on a lark, and had a great time finding a fun gift for my person. I honestly didn’t give much thought to the man or woman who would receive my name because, frankly, it’s more fun to give than receive.

Well, my Secret Santa turned out to be really good at his job.

To research my gift, Santa searched my profile and my website. Then he sent me a gorgeous mug from NPR. Buying this mug not only brought me much happiness — who doesn’t love a big mug of coffee/tea/cocoa/soup? — it also helped NPR, which is one of my favorite institutions.

He didn’t stop there, though. No, Santa went above and beyond this year. While researching me, he stumbled upon a blog post I wrote in November. In it, I mentioned that anyone querying about what birthday/Xmas presents to buy should visit my Amazon wish list; it contained about 90 items, half of which were under $20. In that same post, I also mentioned that if buying stuff wasn’t appealing, I would love love love for people to do one thing for me: Sign up to become an organ donor.

Now what I didn’t mention in that blog post was that my best friend in the whole world died in 1999. Kind, pretty and funny as hell, Amy spent years dealing with a bum kidney. Despite being on meds and dialysis, her previously donated kidney slowly deteriorated. And before she could receive a new one, Ames had a stroke and died. Alone. On the floor of her living room.

She was 29 years old.

I have missed her every day since then. Every single day. And if I could have one wish, it would be to turn back time and figure out a way to get her a new, healthy kidney. Since that is (currently) impossible, I have made it my mission in life to get others to help. Please help. Sign up to donate your organs after you die.

And that is exactly what my Secret Santa did.

Thank you, Santa. The mug is lovely and I will certainly put it to good use. But your decision to check that little box and agree to donate your organs was the best gift of all.

Someday, it’s a gift that could save another person’s life. How cool is that?