OCTOBER 26th - Recognizing the Amazing but Sad



On this day in 1984, Baby Fae received a heart transplant--from a baboon. Besides reminding me of that melodramatic movie Untamed Heart with Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei, in which Christian Slater thought that he had a baboon heart and refused to get a needed heart transplant because he believed his baboon heart contained his love for Marisa Tomei (not as bad as it sounds actually), and Baby Fae's moniker being really close to that of the vastly underrated R&B singer/producer Babyface (“When Can I See You” is a damn good song), Baby Fae’s little baboon-heart miracle was really rather sad. Amazing but sad. She was the fourth person to receive an animal heart, but none of previous three lasted longer than 3 ½ days. Baby Fae fought and kicked and survived for 20 days before her little body finally succumbed. Amazing. But sad. Sometimes life is like that. Like the band playing as the Titanic went down. Or the story of Zach Sobiech. Or when Lt. Eric Ellison attended Kazzie Porter’s graduation a week after telling the 18 yr old his parents were killed by a drunk driver. Look any of those up if you’re in need of a good cry. Because sometimes you need to recognize the amazing but sad and give yourself a good cry. If you’re in a real pinch, if you really need to summon the water works, then watch the end of Field of Dreams. “Dad, you wanna have a catch?” Amazing. But sad.

This Day has been Marked.

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