Dear Unknown Hero

The following transcripts were retrieved from the comments section of a recently expired GoFundMe page.

January 10

Dear Unknown Hero,

I wish I could call you by your name, but your generous donation only noted your name as “Anonymous.”

I may never know who you are. For all I know, you’re just some random stranger who just happened across a really sad “GoFundMe” page and felt compelled to help. Maybe you’re someone I used to work with or go to school with; maybe you’re Mrs. Nichols, the elderly lady at church who’s always sharing her lemon bars with me. Maybe you’re my best friend, Jamie, and you just didn’t want to make me feel bad about all the help you’ve already provided.

The thing is, I don’t know who you are, and you did that intentionally, and it’s not my place to force you out of hiding. That being said, what you did for me was very gracious, and you deserve a heartfelt “Thank you!”

So, though I may not know who you are, and I don’t know how to contact you, I’m leaving this “Thank You Note” here in the hopes that you will see it and know just how much I appreciate your kindness.

Best wishes,

Taylor Marie

February 22

Dear Unknown Hero,

I hope you’ve seen my “Thank You” note by now. I don’t mean to pry, but it’s really been on my heart lately that I am not able to properly give you the gratitude that you deserve. I know that you chose to be anonymous for a reason, and I respect that. I just want you to know exactly how pivotal your generosity has been.

So, here’s an update to show you what your contribution has allowed me to do.

As you know, I was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) while vacationing in Canada. It was a terrifying diagnosis, and just imagine being 3,000 miles from home in a completely different country on top of that! Granted, the nurses and doctors were sickly sweet with that “Canadian Charm” we hear so much about; it certainly wasn’t home.

The initial goal of the GoFundMe page was to help raise enough money to help me travel back to Texas, where I could continue my care and start dialysis treatments. As you know, I made it home safely, only to be placed back in the hospital three days later.

Before going on vacation, I was doing fairly well, working for myself. Now that I’ve been sick and in and out of the hospital for 2 months, I haven’t been able to work. Since I work for myself, if I don’t work, I don’t make money, and bill collectors don’t seem to care that I’m doing my best with what I’ve got. The electricity still has to be paid, my landlord still comes looking for rent, and cars need gasoline- let’s not even mention the cost of groceries these days!

But your generosity has allowed me to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and it’s given me something to live for. I’ve made it my mission that your donation will NOT be taken in vain. I will continue to persevere, I will continue to fight, I will continue to strive to be half the person that you are.

So, thanks for making me a better person.

Love,

Taylor Marie

February 28

Dear Unknown Hero,

Today has been rough. I have been struggling with my social worker to get them to clear me financially in order to start dialysis treatments. Because I have always been self-employed, I don’t have the proper insurance to cover the cost. I showed them the amount of money we raised with GoFundMe, which they found to be quite impressive, thanks to one certain donation, but they still haven’t been able to provide approval.

In my last note to you, I told you that I would not take your gift for granted and I would continue to strive to be a better person. I fully intend to keep that promise, but on days like today, it’s hard.

It’s hard to describe what this illness feels like. I used to consider myself a fairly outgoing, fun-loving, high-energy person with a passion for enjoying life and being active. Now, I’m so tired all the time I have to will myself out of bed every day. Every day is plagued with muscle cramps, nausea, and ….itching. Oh! The itching! I don’t know what causes it, but there are times when the itching is so intense that it keeps me up at night, and I’ll wake up in the morning with claw marks – sometimes, I even draw blood.

Before I was diagnosed, before I went to Canada, I knew that I wasn’t feeling well, but I honestly just thought I was stressed and overworked. I thought a vacation was exactly what I needed to re-invigorate me and give me a much-needed boost. But deep down, I think I knew something serious was going on; I was just in denial. I had promised myself that I would visit a doctor as soon as I got home. When I finally did break down and go to the clinic, I found it hard to explain to the doctor what I was feeling. The only way I could describe it was that it felt like my blood was “bad,” which, oddly enough, wasn’t too far from the truth. When they ran my bloodwork, the doctor told me that my blood was so toxic that I was literally poisoning myself from the inside out.

Since I’ve been home, I’ve started feeling that little tingle. The one that leads to me feeling like I have “bad blood.” It’s not a pleasant feeling at all. In the hospital, they were keeping me on dialysis, which was doing the work that my kidneys are no longer able to do by filtering the blood and disposing of the toxins. But now that I’m out of the hospital, but not cleared for dialysis, every day has led to me feeling sicker and sicker, and I’m starting to wonder whether I’m actually going to make it or not.

I have to. I have too many people rooting for me. I have people like you who have so generously donated time, money, and emotional support. I can’t give up now.

But it’s so hard.

Until next time, with love,

Taylor Marie

March 5

Dear Unknown Hero,

I wanted to start this “Thank You” note out differently because the last one didn’t seem all that thankful. I want you to know that I still greatly appreciate the kindness that you showed me, and I will never take that for granted. I wanted to apologize for going off the rails there a little in the last message.

I also wanted to give you a new update.

I talked to my social worker the day before yesterday, and she advised me that I have been cleared and approved to start dialysis treatment. As excited as I was to hear that, I’m still confused as to why she suddenly had a change of heart, but I chose not to question her for the risk of her changing her mind!

So, I had my first treatment today, and let me tell you, after just one session, I feel a million times better! I even had enough energy to take my dog to the park for a little agility training.

That leads me to the next update – I’ve decided to re-enroll myself and my dog in agility. We trained for about 2 years before I became ill, at which point I had no energy to run an agility course. But I’ve spoken to my doctors, and they agree that this would be a great way for me to get exercise without overdoing it. My dog loves to compete as well. There’s a spring trial coming through town at the end of the month, so I’ve entered that competition. I can’t wait to tell you how we did! We are both pretty rusty, but it will be fun, if nothing else!

I guess that’s it for now; I hope that you are doing well!

Thank you for the millionth time!

Love,

Taylor Marie

March 29

Dear Unknown Hero,

It’s been a while since my last update, and it’s been so busy!

First, I wanted to address something that you may or may not know about. In my last message, I explained how my social worker seemingly turned on a dime in regard to my approval for dialysis, and I was pretty confused about what changed her mind but chose to leave that alone. Today, I received a bill from the dialysis center, and in the “amount due” section, it says, “cost covered by an anonymous benefactor.”

Surely you wouldn’t know anything about it, would you?

I can’t prove that it was you because I don’t even know who you are or what relationship the two of us have, but I am forever indebted to you, and I hope you realize how appreciative I am for your kindness.

Now that business is out of the way, I wanted to tell you about the agility trial!

My dog, Pickles, never ceases to amaze me. There’s nothing special about her; she’s not some fancy breed. She’s just a little mutt that I adopted from the animal shelter a few years ago, but she really is nothing short of fantastic. She’s so intelligent and willing to learn and do everything that I ask of her. She had been laid off from agility competitions for quite a while, but when we walked into that ring and she saw the obstacles in front of her, I saw the switch turn on. She knew she had a job to do, and she was going to do her best. We didn’t win the trial or even come in close to the top, but we did finish our run without any faults or disqualifications. Most of all…we had fun.

I want you to know that’s what you’ve done for me. You’ve given me my life back. I now have a reason to have fun again, and man, that feels phenomenal!

I hope it gives you a great sense of pride and purpose to know that you have literally given someone the will to live again. You deserve all the “kudos” – I just wish I knew who you were so I could give them to you in person.

Thanks again for all that you’ve done,

As always, with love,

Taylor Marie

P.S. Oh! I almost forgot! I may not be back for a while, but I was able to start working again, and I have some huge projects lined up that are going to require a lot of my time. So, just know that even though I may not be here to say it, I am still so thankful for you and your gift.



May 12

Dear Unknown Hero,

I told you that it would be a while before I got back here, but I never forgot about you. The blessings of your donation continue to rain down upon me day after day, and I’m so thankful to be alive in a time like this. Work is going great; Pickles and I have continued to compete (we managed a third-place finish in the last trial!), and most of all, I FEEL GREAT!

On the topic of my health, I have great news! I’ve been approved for a kidney transplant, and they’ve already found a match! Most people wait on the transplant list for years, but the perfect match for me came along, and the doctors have been impressed with how well I’ve kept up with their orders, and they say I’m an excellent candidate. I’m scheduled to have the surgery on June 10, so wish me luck!

So yeah, life is going really well right now, and I have you to thank for everything. You really have turned my life around, and I just hope that I can return the favor someday!

Until next time,

With love,

Taylor Marie

June 14

Dear Taylor Marie,

I’m sorry I never responded to any of your Thank You messages. To be honest, I was always afraid that I would say something to give my identity away, and I wasn’t willing to do that.

For as much as my contribution turned your life around, it did the same for me just seeing how appreciative and full of life you became after being handed such a cruddy deal. And being able to watch you grow without the need for acknowledgment or “kudos” made me a better person.

I’ve been very lucky in my life, in just about every aspect of it there is. I’ve done well financially, with friends, in love, and everything in between. When I met you, I knew that you had a special zest for life, and when you became ill, I couldn’t sit idly by and let such a special person wither away into nothing.

I was at the funeral today.

It was hard to sit there quietly as the choir sang “I’ll Fly Away,” and I watched as your mother had to be carried down the aisle. It’s not the natural way of things – no mother should have to bury her child; that’s not the way it’s supposed to go. Much less a child so full of life, with so much left to give the world. It’s really a shame what happened; we all knew that a new kidney was the right direction to go for you, but sometimes our bodies become our worst enemies.

But this isn’t a post to tell you how much we will miss you. I’m continuing the tradition of these messages by writing you my own little “Thank You” note.

I need you to know that you were always such an inspiration to me, and your kindness and passion for life were all the thanks that I needed – you did far more than just repay me, you changed the way I look at life, and for that, I thank you.

Thank you, Taylor Marie, for showing me, and everyone you ever met, how joyful life can be.

Thank you for being pure and innocent to the very end.

Thank you for showing the world what a little love and a lot of faith can do for a person.

Thank you for always being so kind to everyone you meet.

Thank you for being you.

I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Taylor Marie; I did everything that I could. I can only hope that all of your pain is gone and that you are in a better place now. The world needs more people like you, and if I could bring you back, I’d give you my other kidney as well.

As always, with love,

You Know Who