Donating an organ is not usually an easy decision for most people, except for me. When my birth mother told me that her sister was going on the critical list for a kidney, the words flew out of my mouth. I want to do it! Little did she know I had made the decision to donate to her when I first met my birth mother eight years ago. She had told me that her sister, my aunt, had contracted the same disease that killed their father many years ago, Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). PKD is what its name suggests, it is the formation of many cysts in the kidney causing it to enlarge. It eventually leads to end-stage kidney failure. It is a genetic disease but had skipped the other siblings. It took another five years, but my aunt needed a kidney and so far, no one else in the family that had been tested was a suitable donor… except for me. I, of course, wanted to know all the risks but if I heard that there was no risk of me contracting the genetic disease then I was all in on giving my kidney to my aunt. After it was determined that my blood type was a match then I went to UAB in Birmingham and underwent extensive physical and mental tests to further determine my eligibility. It went very smoothly and I’m convinced that is because it was meant to be. I heard what I wanted to hear, that I wasn’t going to contract the disease and the surgery was scheduled. I went to Birmingham with my scared, loving boyfriend to have the surgery and it also went very smoothly! Recovery was a little rough, in fact, my aunt was up and about walking around and doing better than I was! Science is incredible… A few short weeks later I was finally headed back home to finish recovering and shortly after that, felt like nothing had ever happened. My only restriction was that I shouldn’t take anti-inflammatory medications. Other than that, my life has continued on as it did before with just a tiny, fading scar. What will never fade, though, is the bond that I now share with my aunt. The kidney, named April because that is the month she received it, is functioning well and she can now live a more fruitful life with her dear husband and family. I will always think about how I walked into their lives those couple years ago and no one knew how much of an impact it would be for all of us. Everything happens for a reason.