Americans are philanthropic.  We’re blessed to live in the best country in the world and we give back. Houstonians even more so. I make a lot of negative comments about Houston.  Sure, it’s ugly and hot, but it is a kick ass place to earn a living. The American Dream is alive and well here and we know it. So, Houstonians give back, and boy do we. We throw charity events, we hold auctions, we sit on boards, we give til it hurts.  We do remarkable things.

But sometimes it’s just not enough.  We can’t fix all the world’s woes.  But God, how we try.  I just found out our latest little HeartGift patient did not survive. HeartGift was founded in Austin.  It has operations in six cities.  We have done over 190 successful life saving open heart surgeries.  We have a lot to be proud of. These little human beings are our legacies.  They will go back to their communities and live until adulthood and hopefully they will share their stories.  Stories of how complete strangers paid for them to travel thousands of miles to this new world. How caring communities took them in.  Gave them food when they were hungry, clothed them when they were naked.  How these strangers arranged and paid for surgeries that are not even pipe dreams in their native countries.

Despite all of our best efforts and the finest medical care in the world, we lost Dave this week.  HeartGift is not a Christian based organization, but I can guarantee that we are down on our knees praying to God for comfort. I can also tell you something else.  Dave’s mother, Mary Grace, is a hero.  So are all the mothers.  She took a chance.  She gave her little boy’s life over to strangers in an effort to save him.  She did all she could.