Thursday, December 14, 2000

Celebrating life with a new heart

Jones

Dora Guillen Jones is 62, but at heart she's 15. This, Jones clarifies, is no mere state of mind. On Friday, surrounded by 50 guests and attended by 14 of her closest friends, Jones will celebrate the quincea¤era she never had.
   The 7:30 p.m. Mass, said by Monsignor Patrick Higgins at her home, is a way of celebrating not only the life ahead of her, says Jones, but remembering the 14-year-old Hispanic boy from Dallas whose heart now makes her own life possible.
   "Every day that I have is a gift, and when I wake up in the morning I thank God I've lived another day," said Jones, diagnosed three years ago with an enlarged heart.
   Giving thanks
   "I wanted to have a party to thank all the people who have prayed for me and supported me throughout all of this."
   Although she doesn't know the identity of her heart donor nor his birthday, Jones decided the most fitting time to celebrate his 15th birthday was the Friday closest to the anniversary of her transplant surgery, performed Dec. 18, 1999, at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
   "This party is very much in character," said Sandy Jones, a San Antonio resident who arrived in Corpus Christi earlier this week to help her mother make her homemade tamales for quincea¤era guests. The tamales are based on a family recipe handed down the generations.
   "We're so happy to see another year with our mother," Sandy Jones said. "A year ago she was on death's door, but now look at her.
   "My mother has always been a tough cookie. I see this as much a celebration of his (donor's) life as my own mother's."
   Aida Trejo has known Dora Jones for more than 20 years. The two met when Trejo took guitar lessons from Jones, who has been in church choirs and prayer groups all of her adult life. It sparked a friendship, Trejo said, that over the years has taught her more about courage and joy than strumming a guitar.
   'Full of joy'
   "Dora is full of joy and strength and everything good," Trejo said. "Her eyes have always had that special sparkle. I'd say that heart she has now is not too young for her.
   "Friday will be very exciting. It's a double celebration, of one past life and one present life."
   During her quincea¤era Mass, Jones, wearing a royal blue dress, will sing a song she composed three months ago in honor of her heart donor. The words, Jones said, came to her one day when she inexplicably burst into tears. Once the words were on paper, Jones recorded the song, wrote a thank-you letter and had hospital staff forward letter and tape to her donor's family.
   "If I could speak to that boy, I would want him to feel proud that I have his heart inside me," Jones said. "I never forget him or his family in my prayers.
   "I hope one day I get a picture of him.
   "I'd like to be able to see him in my mind as I say my prayers. What a gift he's given me."