The hundreds who gathered at Dallas Heritage Village Sunday afternoon came from all different backgrounds and all different places. But in that moment, they were all family.
That's because each of them has experienced first hand the miracle of an organ transplant.
"We want to celebrate the gift of life," said Michael Gristina.
It was nearly three years ago that Gristina got the news that he had end stage renal disease, also known as kidney failure.
The young father of three quickly found himself on dialysis.
"How are we gonna live?," said Gristina, describing the thoughts he had after receiving his diagnosis. "How are we gonna make it through every day?"
His doctors told him they could put him on the wait list for a new kidney -- but that it could take up to 10 years before he'd receive one and could have a transplant.
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That's when his wife Rebecca decided she would get tested to see if she would be match for him.
"We went in full on just with hope that it would work out," said Rebecca Gristina. "And it did. And we're so thankful for that."
The results came back and she was, in fact, a match for her husband. So last June, they went to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and had the surgery done.
The transplant was a success -- which brought them to Dallas Heritage Village Sunday.
"I couldn't ask for anything more from her ever," said Gristina. "And I carry a piece of her with me wherever I go."
And in organizing Sunday's family reunion, Baylor hoped to send a profound message about the life-saving power of organ donation.
"It's good not just for the recipients," said Dr. Goran Klintmalm, Chief of Baylor's Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute. "It's also very important for the donor families. And I can't stress that enough."
The Gristinas know it's a big decision for anyone to become an organ donor. But they hope it's one people will continue to make."
"It was so worth it," said Rebecca Gristina. "I don't regret it ever. I would do it again in a hearbeat."
"The gratitude that you feel never goes away," said Gristina.
To learn more about how you can register to become an organ donor, visit Donate Life America's website.
