Bless Your Heart: Our Transplant Miracle

By Brigette Marie Walker

When Brigette Marie Walker meets Dalton, shes recovering from a miserable divorce. The last thing on her mind is settling down with someone new.

The two also seem an unlikely match: Hes a single father to four boys, and she has a boy of her ownand theyre both very busy.

But the two get along great, and when they start dating, their children almost always tag along. From day one, Brigette can see how much Dalton loves his four boysand her own son, too.

Just before the two get married, however, Dalton discovers he has an enlarged heart. After making an appointment with a cardiologist, hes devastated to learn he needs a heart transplant.

The couple has just bought a house, and neither one knows what to expect. They even begin researching stem cell therapy as a possible way to rejuvenate heart function, because they know a transplant may never come.

Join Brigette and Dalton on an inspiring journey filled with doubt, tears, and lots of love in Bless Your Heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532055423

Brigette Marie Walker

Brigette Marie Walker has always enjoyed writing, and she wrote numerous articles for her local newspaper in the 1980s. She was happy to use her journalism skills to share her husbands amazing and miraculous journey of getting a heart transplant in Bless Your Heart. The couple has five sons.

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Copyright © 2018 Brigette Marie Walker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-5528-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5529-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5542-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018909792

iUniverse rev. date: 08/21/2018

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgement

1. The Early Years

2. The First Date

3. Meeting The Sons

4. Life As We Know It

5. The Proposal And Wedding

6. The New House / Bittersweet Memories

7. Waiting For The New Heart:

8. The Page

9. The Recovery

10. Life After Heart Transplant

11. Scary Moments At Work

12. Giving Back

13. Empty Nest

About The Author

Recognition

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my journalism teacher, John H. Gratton. He was the kind of teacher who made a difference in my life and gave me the courage to achieve my goals. In this teacher’s eyes if you worked hard everything is obtainable.

Acknowledgement

Our family will be forever grateful to the donor family. They gave my husband the gift of life and the opportunity to see our five sons grow up to be amazing young men just like their Dad.

1

The Early Years

My decision to write our story and share our personal thoughts and experiences was a difficult decision. I believe everyone on earth has a destiny. I think sharing our story is fulfilling our destiny. Our life began ordinary and has turned out to be extraordinary. Hope you enjoy our story and will walk away never forgetting us.

Our love story began 23 years ago in 1995. I would have to admit my life really began at that time. After experiencing a miserable divorce, I had finally met a man who I knew was someone truly special and amazing. This man would be my future husband. The man I want to share my life with forever. Dalton was introduced to me by my son’s babysitter.

Coincidentally, Dalton had also recently been through a tough time, as he had gone through a divorce shortly before mine. This immediately gave us something in common. We had a connection. I think we both realized this connection from day one.

Dalton had 4 little boys. Their ages were 2, 4, 6 and 8. My son, Kyle was 4 at the time Dalton and I met. I knew Dalton was a good man. He loved his sons and anyone could see his love. My son also thought the world of Dalton. Dalton always treated my son, Kyle like one of his boys. His boys always treated me with respect and love. We felt like a family.

As I