Our meeting with Al's donor....

I will explain this picture later :)

These two, I caught from the car. Jen's train had just arrived, and I still had to find parking, so Al got out and ran up to her, so they could chat. I was so glad to catch this moment...it was a tear jerker! Reminded me of a movie :*)

Jen (holding her mug, she LOVED it !!) Al and our little guy Miles

The story of the night:

Well....the train arrived at 5:27 PM. Minutes before, Jen texted me with "Hearts racing?" We replied "With excitement!" Then a few minutes later we are at a stop light, I get another text with "Move train!!" We saw the train, it was just sitting there, and she was stuck on the other side!! The anticipation was great!! The light turned green, the gates went up and we see everyone walking across the tracks, we spotted her from the car, and instinctively, I waved! She saw us (how??? We were IN the car, and there were tons of people around...but she saw us!) waved back excitedly!! Al jumped out of the car (at another stoplight) and they ran to each other and embraced! It was such a teary moment to watch from the "outside" world. All this busyness was going on around all of us, and for a moment, it felt as though the world had stopped just for us! The kids and I crossed the tracks, to find parking and when we finally met up with Al and Jen, I got my chance to hug her to death!! It was such an impactful time! She had baked us COOKIES!!!! As if giving her kidney up isn't enough, she baked for us! This woman is amazing. I must just make that perfectly clear. She is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! She is so bubbly and personable and sweet and funny and informative and...and....and....AND! She is a gem!

We went to dinner, were there for a few hours. I was impressed with how well the kids behaved and how sweet she was with Acilia. Acilia LOVED her! It was so cute! She just kept looking at her and talking to her, and loving on her!

We told her we wanted to drive her home, so she wouldn't have to take the train back. It was a nice drive. She lives in the city, and it's just so beautiful as it is, but on top of that, it was all made up because the Olympic committee was in to decide whether the Olympics would keep Chicago in the running for 2016! I got a cool picture of a building with a star made of lights. (Remember seeing it at the beginning of this post?) That was just a teeny part of all the fun for the night, but the city sure pulled out all the stops!

Overall, the night was a complete and total success. She is sure to be a lifelong friend! Or, better yet, a part of our family!