Celebrate the Milestones

Join us this fall at the Kidney Walk

by Mary Diemer

At the age of 53 I have come to the conclusion that a large part of life is celebrating milestones: birthdays, first steps, firsts of just about anything, anniversaries—and yes, even death. And when you have lived most of your life with a chronic disease, you tend to place more emphasis on “firsts” and other milestones.

On September 5, 2001, my sister Marg gave me her left kidney. And we celebrated. Our first transplantiversary is a blur, and then before I knew it, five years had gone by; then double digits. How could 10 years go by that fast? Two years ago, if my kidney was a kid, she would have been old enough to get her driver’s licence. This year, she’s old enough to vote and next year she turns 19 (I shudder to think how we will celebrate that!) but when she turns 21—it’s going to be something big! Please don’t get me wrong, I celebrate my transplant every single day.

One of the ways I celebrate every year is by participating in the annual Kidney Walk. I started as a walker back in 2002 and became more involved in planning the event in my community more than 10 years ago.

My team—Mary’s Spare Parts—will be walking again this September in our community, making more walk memories. My team has always shown that they are behind me all the way. They’ve definitely got my back! Spring 2020 / Kidney Living /

The Kidney Walk brings together patients and their families, transplant families, renal professionals, Kidney Foundation volunteers and more like-minded individuals who want to make a difference. It’s a morning full of familyfriendly activities, a beautiful walk, and best of all—kidney stories. Kidney disease isn’t easy, but we do have some amazing stories. It’s a time when we can see we are not alone in our experience. There is a whole community of support waiting to greet us.

I want to personally invite you to this year’s Walk. We might not walk in the same community, we might be in different parts of the province, but we are united in wanting to make a positive impact for all those affected by kidney disease.

Thank you so much to those of you who have walked before. Welcome back if you’ve missed a year or two (hey, things happen). And to any new people who have thought about joining, but just aren’t sure, we welcome you with open arms. Together, we can support each other and make an impact where it mattes most. 

it’s time to applaud our amazing volunteers.

Volunteers make our work possible. Thank you for your time and dedication. National Volunteer Week April 19-25, 2020