Dear Ann Landers: Every day in this country, at least 16 people die waiting for human organs to become available for transplantation. Nearly 80,000 Americans are currently on the national waiting list for life-saving organ transplants.
Each month, nearly 2,000 new patients are added to the list of those in need of a kidney, liver, pancreas, heart or a pair of lungs.
Transplant surgery is highly successful, but the drastic shortage of organs is rapidly taking lives. April 21-27 is National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, a time for all Americans to think about organ donation.
The process is simple. Sign an organ donor card and discuss your decision with family members.
For more information about organ donation or a free organ donor card, please tell your readers to call the National Kidney Foundation at 1-800-622-9010, or write us at: National Kidney Foundation, 30 East 33rd St., New York, NY 10016 (www.kidney.org). — Drew Baur, cairman, National Kidney Foundation
Dear Drew Baur: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind my readers to become organ donors.
I hope many of them will contact your office and sign up. It is a selfless act of generosity.
Dear Ann Landers: I am seven months pregnant with my second child. My mother lives in another state and wants to be here for the baby’s birth. The problem is, she wants to bring along my stepfather, “Joe,” who is in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease. During their last visit, Joe started a fire in my microwave, spilled food on my new carpet and urinated on the floor. My mother also expects my husband and me to “baby-sit” Joe so she can take a break and go shopping.
I have explained to my mother that it will be too stressful for me to have my stepfather in my house. I offered to help pay for a hotel room or temporary residence at a nearby nursing home, but my mother insists that they both stay with us. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I am desperate. What can I do? –Expecting in Phoenix
Dear Phoenix: I realize your mother needs a break, but it is unfair of her to expect you to provide it when you are recuperating from the birth of your child.
Tell Mom you are so sorry, but you cannot possibly take the responsibility of watching Joe because your hands will be full with the new baby. If she insists on bringing Joe along, tell her you are making reservations for both of them at a hotel or for Joe at a resident-care facility. Tell her you will help pay for it. Keep repeating this sentence (sweetly): “I’m looking forward to seeing you. I will reserve a room at the Happy Rendezvous Suites.”
Remember, dear, no one can take advantage of you without your permission.
Dear Ann Landers: I enjoyed the letter suggesting that a businessperson be put in a grade-school classroom to see if he or she could survive.
Last month, I was in the grocery store and ran into an old friend. She asked, “How is your daughter doing in 1st grade?” I replied that it had taken almost two weeks, but she finally had stopped crying at night. I went on to tell my friend that the bigger kids kept lifting her up and others were taking her pencils and breaking them. They called her ugly names, and she had been kicked, slapped and spat upon.
The woman next to us at the checkout counter was appalled and said, “My goodness! Who could be so cruel to a 6-year-old?”
I answered, “Oh, no, my daughter is the teacher!”
— Proud of Her in Louisiana
Dear Louisiana: I trust your daughter has developed more effective strategies for controlling her classroom by now. I wish her luck.
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To find out more about Ann Landers and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.