By Richard F. Denno
If ever there was a person that was best described by the above title, it was my beautiful wife, Midge Denno. After all, she was the ‘Mother’ of the Masonic Organ & Tissue Donor Awareness Program, as well as my beautiful bride for almost 48 years. Had she not received her lifesaving kidney transplant, the Masonic Organ & Tissue Donor Awareness Program would not have been thought of and formed.
On Saturday, March 3, Midge lost her battle with end stage renal disease. The immuno suppressants had taken their toll on her body. When you must take these drugs to prevent your body from rejecting your transplanted organ; it can lead to other medical issues with other maladies.
In October of 2004, Midge was diagnosed with scleroderma, a disease that shut down her kidneys, forcing her onto Hemo Dialysis for over four years. The telephone call, that all who are on the organ donor waiting list hope and pray for, finally came on December 3, 2008. Transplants are NOT cures. They can, however, prolong a recipient’s life for many years. On March 3, 2018, 9 1/3 years after her transplant, she succumbed to end stage renal disease. I will always be grateful to the caring person who registered as an organ donor and provided Midge with a much-needed kidney.
Midge was one of those special people that virtually EVERYONE loved. She was kind, caring, thoughtful and very frugal with finances. And did I say she was a beautiful woman? While she had a warm, sincere smile that attracted people to her; it was her caring, which radiated from within, that kept them ‘coming back.’
We were together for 50 years. In all those years, I never failed to tell her how much I loved her and how special she was. I usually tell folks that they tolerated me to have a relationship with her. In all that time, I never found one person who didn’t like and admire her.
In the past 20 years, I have used the title, ‘Did you ever know that you’re my hero?’ in only eight of my articles. I’ve reserved it only for the most special of people. The lyrics are from Bette Midler’s song, ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings.’ Another lyric from the song that describes Midge is ‘You’re everything I wished I could be.’ Every single word of the song expresses just how I feel (not felt) about Midge Denno.
I put up two Donate Life pages. You can check them out at www.registerme.org/campaign/midge_denno to register on the National organ donor website and www.donatelife.net/midgedenno . The second one is to contribute to the lifesaving efforts and save/improve the lives of others.
Sincerely,
Richard