On November 15, 1968, my friend Regis received a very special gift. Others may not think so--they may call it a trial, an adversity, an obstacle, a challenge, or even a curse.
I'll let you decide.
I met Regis in the fall of 1986 at the beginning of our freshman year of college. My roommate Sylvia and I were standing in line to rent a refrigerator for our dorm room, and the boys behind us starting talking about something that sparked our interest. We turned around and joined in the conversation. It turned out that they lived just two floors above us!
Regis and Sylvia (and I, by extension) became fast friends.
Not long after, there was a football game in the quad, and I saw Regis sitting on the sidelines watching. I went over and talked to him and asked him why he wasn't playing.
As we got to know Regis more and we watched him meet new people, we often joked that when people met Regis for the first time, they always immediately learned two things about him: that he's French and that he has a heart condition.
Sitting on the sidelines that day, it was my turn to learn these two things for the first time.
Regis said, "Yeah, I'm not really into sports. A lot of people think I'm gay--I'm not. I just have a heart condition."
Regis' parents met when his mom, an American, was spending a year in France. After a whirlwind romance, followed by a multi-year long distance relationship, his father came to the United States and they got married. A few years later, Regis was born.
What began as a joyful occasion soon turned into a nightmare, as Regis' special gift was discovered.
Regis was born with a hypoplastic aortic arch. A not uncommon congenital heart condition, this simply meant that his aorta was too small--not big enough to handle the blood that his heart was trying to pump throughout his body. What made Regis' condition unique was the fact that it wasn't just a small, easily fixable portion of the aorta. In fact, it was all of the major blood vessels.
When he was nine years old, Regis underwent a major bypass graft. Basically, the doctors gave him a second set of artificial blood vessels so that his heart could send double the amount of blood to the rest of his body. Though these types of artificial bypasses are fairly common in small sections, Regis was the first (and to his knowledge the only) person ever to have received an entire system bypass. And though the doctor put in "accordion" grafts so that the vessels would expand as he grew, Regis was never expected to live to adulthood.
Now, at 39 years old, Regis is a living example of someone who has lived life to the fullest.
He decided at a very young age to become a physician, and he did it (the only one of our crowd, by the way, who actually ended up doing what he said he would). He has travelled the world. He understands what is important. He hasn't spent his life accumulating "stuff"--though with a doctor's salary he very well could--and instead has built his life around helping people (including providing medical aid to the poorest of people in the inner city) and fostering and developing relationships with the people he loves.
Yes, Regis was given a very special gift--the gift of knowing that life here on earth does not last forever, of realizing that people are our most precious resource and that we must always treat them with love, kindness and respect, and of understanding that to truly get the most out of life, we must live as if each day was our last.
My Story
HELLO--and welcome to my blog!
Not long ago, I was stressed out, overworked, and over committed, running three businesses from my home, active in my church and my community, and raising my two kids.
My stress got so bad, it landed me in the hospital--they thought I was having a HEART ATTACK!
Fortunately, I was able to completely turn my life around, and now I am committed to helping others do the same by choosing joy, creating wealth,and living life by design. I look forward to assisting you as you, too, say goodbye to stress forever and join me in this incredible world of stress-free living!
Not long ago, I was stressed out, overworked, and over committed, running three businesses from my home, active in my church and my community, and raising my two kids.
My stress got so bad, it landed me in the hospital--they thought I was having a HEART ATTACK!
Fortunately, I was able to completely turn my life around, and now I am committed to helping others do the same by choosing joy, creating wealth,and living life by design. I look forward to assisting you as you, too, say goodbye to stress forever and join me in this incredible world of stress-free living!

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Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Regis' Special Gift
Posted by
Margie Remmers
at
5:43 PM
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