Team RenJen

Last night I participated in my first Skype conference with none other than (drumroll, please) all of Team RenJen! Rene and Nancy have an amazing group of friends (shoutouts to Jan, Diane, Barbara, Jean, Douglas, and Harold) who have volunteered to be our care team pre-, during, and post-surgery. It was so nice to be able to meet the people who will be a crucial part of my stay in Boston. They were warm, kind, gracious...and really funny!

I can't believe how organized and giving this crew is. Barbara and Jean will be putting me up in their house in Cambridge (which is a quick T ride to MGH) during my stay. I'm so grateful that I won't have to be recuperating in a Red Roof Inn somewhere!

Jan and Diane are my official "go-to" team. They've volunteered to take care of any needs I have (or needs my family may have, for that matter) while I'm in Boston, whether it be a ride to the hospital or a quick run for food or medicine.

Douglas and Harold will be serving as Rene's right-hand men. Rene is going to have a much longer and more sensitive recovery than I will face, and Douglas and Harold will be there to provide whatever she and Nancy might need. Plus, Douglas is also getting us all signed up on the website Lotsa Helping Hands, a site where people will have the opportunity to coordinate care for Rene and me without having to make ten phone calls to do so.

I've never had a whole team of people at my disposal before; they say this is an "altruistic" donation, but I'm liking the sound of what life in Boston will be like for me. :)

In all seriousness, I do feel incredibly grateful for the kindness these folks have already shown me. I think we live in a time and place that is surrounded by a lot of junk. I mean, just check out the headlines in today's New York Times: "Grim Milestone: 1,000 Americans Dead," "Thai Government Rejects Cease-Fire Talks," and "Doctor Charged in N.F.L. Doping Case." And what does it say that NBC Nightly News' most popular feature is its "Making a Difference" segments: stories about ordinary people, well, making a difference? I know what it means for me many nights; it means I sit through 25 minutes of disheartening news stories--just so I can hear one uplifting one.

How does this relate to Team RenJen? Well, I think it's easy to get sidetracked by the junk out there. We read the headlines and watch the news, and day by day, even if it's subconsciously, we lose our faith in people's abilities to do what's right. However, my experiences with Team RenJen (and I haven't even gotten to Boston yet) help me believe what I think I know in my heart: that there are plenty of people with plenty of stories out there that could fill every half hour of every NBC Nightly News with "Making a Difference" segments.

Thanks, y'all!