Roberto Y. Ruelan, born Sept. 14, 1938, my husband of 40 years, one day happily announced that he had checked the organ donor box on his then New Jersey driver’s license. My children and I thought he was reaching for the stars with this one. Diagnosed with high blood pressure and taking medications to control it, we thought this would surely prevent him from donating any organs. Along with that was the knowledge that one of his eyes was accidentally blinded when he was young we were sure that there would not be a single organ that could be donated. But he persisted and every time he renewed his license or even when we moved to Las Vegas, he still checked that box and he still wanted to donate his organs. On the day he died, there was no hesitation on our part to donate his organs. It was his wish and his dream and we wanted to fulfill it. Imagine our surprise when we found out that he did indeed become an organ donor and that now somewhere in this country, a part of him still lives. That knowledge has made it a little bit easier to face his lose and has offered us, his family, with a great deal of consolation. We chose the blue background with stars on them because it is a perfect description remember him like this, smiling at us with that knowing smile, telling us “Yes, I can donate my organs.”
