I mentioned the other three towns for a very good reason: There are some very important people who reside in those places. We shall take them one at a time.
STARKVILLE, MS
Starkville is the home of one of the orginal members of the DonorMoms group, Pam Collier. We arrived in Starkville on Friday afternoon and had dinner and a few hours of "getting to know each other time." Delaine and Pam met for the first time and, as an onlooker, you would have sworn that they'd been friends for years. We were able to meet Jeff, Nink, Matt and Chase. They were all as charming as anyone can imagine. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Collier's for their hospitality and good cookin'!
TUPELO, MS
The next morning found us in a town known who's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of "The King of Rock N Roll," Elvis Aron Presley. We arrived a bit early for our twelve o'clock meeting and we took some time to visit Elvis' Birthplace and then the mall. Noon found us at Applebee's where we shared a lunch date with Freddy Morgan, his wife Debbie, their son Kerry (I hope I spelled it correctly) and his girlfriend Lindsey. Freddy is Callie's liver recipient. He is doing remarkably well and after the lunch they invited us to their home just south of town where we were able to visit with them further and meet their youngest son, Eric. Freddy's mom, dad & brother-in-law came by to visit and we had a great time. We lost track of time and almost left too late to get to the next stop. Again, thanks to the Morgan family for their hospitality and kindness.
CORINTH, MS
An hour long, rainy drive after leaving the Morgan's brought us to Corinth to meet Linda Crowe and Michelle Flatt, the mother and sister of Kevin Crowe, the recipient of Callie's lungs. Arby's was the meeting place and we were also pleased to meet one of Kevin's friends, Cheryl, who happened to be working at the time. Though the meeting was brief, we thourughly enjoyed our time with Linda and Michelle and look forward to doing it again sometime in the near future.
We would again like to thank the great people at MORA for their help in bringing about these meetings, though there were no official MORA representatives present at the meetings, they could never have happened with out the help of the fine people on their staff, most notably and in no particular order, Susan Hetzel, James Laird, Kevin Stump, Kelvin Satcher and Chris Veal. Please take the time to visit MORA's site by clicking the link below.
We would also like to extend our deepest appreciation to you, the reader, for your interest in the path our journey has taken and where it will take us. The end is nowhere in sight and we invite you to come back often.
Chris & Delaine
