Garrett Fontenot

On April 5, 1988, God sent us a wonderful little boy. He had a calm, even temper. As a young child he loved being outside, riding his bike, playing baseball or basketball. When he was older, he liked to play video games, listen to the radio and watch wrestling and sports on television.

One of the things I miss the most is not hearing his laughter from his bedroom. You could hear him throughout the house, it was uplifting. He loved to go fishing and boating with his dad and his uncles. And he loved to play tennis and basketball with his cousin Jacob and his sister Rachel. His heart matured with the coming of his little cousin, Madisen. He never tired of holding her and playing with her. He always had time for his grandparents, and was very polite and courteous. He wasn't an angel I'm sure, but in our eyes he was very special.

In the hospital when we were approached about organ donation, as a family we decided that Garrett, with his giving nature, would have been very honored to know that he was able to help others. With Garrett's gift of life he was able to help 7 people receive life saving organs, 2 with the gift of sight and others with bone and tissue donation.

The first Christmas after Garrett died, LOPA asked us if we could thank the DMV for asking people if they would like to become donors, and if we wanted to send a picture of our loved one's driver's license so they could see how much good they are doing. That is when I saw that Garrett had on his license that he wanted to be a donor. You cannot imagine how I felt. I truly believe that God always has a hand in every part of our lives.

In the first year we were blessed to meet two recipients. It was at the LOPA picnic 2006. One recipient has his left kidney and the other has his right kidney and his pancreas. And at the third LOPA picnic we attended in 2008 we were honored to finally meet Garrett's heart recipient.

You wonder, before you meet the recipients how do you make them feel Garrett's love and compassion, then when you meet them you feel it, and know that they are the truest friends and become a part of your family.

To lose a loved one is the hardest thing to have to endure on this earth. But, to be able to enable another family to finish what God has intended for them to do on earth is a gift you can give by being an organ donor.

Written with love and kisses
Priscilla Fontenot
Garrett's Mom