Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Some of our heroes are important people in the past. Or present. My hero at the time was a very small 10 year-old; who saved my life. Yes I'm talking about my sister Megan! Today marks the day I had my bone marrow transplant in which my younger sister Megan was the donor. I always like to get my Aplastic Anemia album my mother put together for me and look at pictures and read letters my parents wrote to everyone while our family was going through this hard trial. I came across this letter a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share it with you. It's actually a letter that was sent to my dad from a dear friend.

"Yesterday afternoon I spoke with a friend of mine who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma about six weeks ago. He has been through 6 rounds of chemo and has two left. He will also undergo four weeks worth of radiation treatments. His spirits are good. They were able to catch the cancer in the very early stages so his prognosis is excellent.

As part of his treatment he had some bone marrow harvested for evaluation. They needed to determine if the cancer had spread to his marrow. I commented on the fact that another friend had a daughter who had just received a marrow transplant and that her little sister was the donor. He chocked up a little and then made the following statement. "You know I am a big guy (he is about 6'4" 265). I played football from the time I was 8 years old through college. I have been bruised to the point it was hard to find normal skin on my body. But I have never endured pain like that. My hips still ache at times." Then I told him that Megan was 10 years old and had at least two, if not four incisions, where they had gone in multiple times to harvest marrow. He was stunned.

That thought coupled with Megan's testimony on Sunday brought tears to my eyes. In life we see many people who are branded as heroes, courageous, and brave. We all have stories in our family history of those who have made sacrifices so that we could be here. But sometimes the most poignant lessons we learn are from the humility and love of a 10 year-old."

That letter pretty much sums up all the thoughts I've been having lately as I look back on this particular time in my life. My sister Megan is an amazing individual. I am so grateful for her willingness to go through so much pain for me. I'm so sad she is on the other side of the United States right now and that we can't be together to celebrate this day! Love you Megan and happy BMT birthday!! Can't wait to see you during Christmas! Maybe we will just have to celebrate then!