Today I had lunch with a friend in New York. The meal was long overdue, and I was privileged to be able to be there.
As often happens to friendships; time, distance, careers, families… had caused us to grow apart. Unfortunately, over the last several years our paths have most commonly crossed due to tragedy – death or illness. But this luncheon was a celebration! You see, my friend, Jennifer Jones Austin, was diagnosed with Leukemia a year ago. 
More than a dozen trips to the hospital, several rounds of chemotherapy and a cord blood transplant later, Jennifer’s illness in is complete remission. She is on her way to a full recovery!Today Jennifer and I talked about the remarkable way that God moves and manifests in our lives! We talked about the consistent prayers and hard work of the many friends and strangers who came to her aid. We marveled about the many marrow donor drives that were held around the country on her behalf, many of which were led by her niece Natalia, a Spelman student, and the many people who have been helped as a result. We commented on the significant increase in Leukemia awareness among the African-American population that has occurred because of her illness. And we discussed the remarkable collaboration of her siblings, mother, children and close friends to be a supportive family unit during her illness.
In my book, all of the people who intervened to support Jennifer, help save her life and make a contribution to help save others with Leukemia are heroes!
Jennifer also spoke with awe and admiration for her husband, Shawn. During her battle, Sean took the lead in maintaining their family life in a remarkable way. As you might expect, Shawn became the go-to parent for his and Jennifer’s children, 13 year old Kennedy and 8 year old Channing. This meant attending parent teacher conferences, handling adolescent physical changes, braiding hair, carpool, shuttling for baseball and piano practice, homework, cooking meals and managing bed times. Shawn also maintained family rituals and traditions – planning family vacations, attending church regularly, preparing Halloween costumes, placing Mums at grandma’s house in the spring, and making sure that Santa Clause arrived on time and that Easter suits and dresses fit.
Oh yeah, and Shawn also spent most days and nights by Jennifer’s bedside during her toughest days. When she was in the hospital he would spend two nights with her and one night at home with the kids. He also worked from home or the hospital for most of the last year. Yet Shawn was clearly getting the job done. During this time, he was awarded two promotions as an executive in the insurance industry.
In his spare time, Shawn was also the driving force behind a website dedicated to finding a marrow match for Jennifer. Additionally, he was Jennifer’s primary contact with the National Marrow Donor Program – the architect of the coordinated set of bone marrow drives at churches, schools and community centers nationwide.
As Jennifer shared all of this with me, the thought that kept running through my head was, “This guy’s a Superhero!”
Then Jennifer confirmed it all for me when she told me of a day when he came home from work and she said, “Honey, you look really tired today.” Without missing a beat, Shawn smiled and said, “That’s ‘cause savin’ yo ass is a full time job!” That sounds exactly like something that a big, strong, loving Superhero would say!
To learn more about how you can join the national bone marrow registry visit www.bethematch.org. To learn more about Jennifer and her story visit www.savejenaustin.com.