metro
Cider and donuts.
Creativity and critical thinking.
Robotics and Rabbinics.
Second Chances
Hillel and affordability.
Organ recipients join Stillmans
for Shabbat at Shir Shalom.
Some thing,s4t,
W
better to
Ash
Find out why these are better
together at our
ECC-Grade 8 Daytime
Open House.
Come watch imaginations soar.
Thursday,
November 6, 9 a.m.
• Tour the entire school, including the brand
new maker space, production, science, and
art studios, and greenhouse
• See classes in action
• Question and Answer session
• Learn about the $36,000 Hillel Tuition
Grant
RSVP to Amy Schlussel at
aschlussel@hillelday.org or
(248) 539-1484.
3 1
01HILLEL
DAY SCHOOL
Mind and soul. Better together
.
Early Childhood Center, ages 2-5 Day School, grades K-8
32200 Middlebelt Road • Farmington Hills, MI 48334
MindandSoul.HillelDay.org • HillelDay.org
12
October 30 • 2014
JN
de•
hen 19-year-old Emily
Stillman died in early
February 2013 from men-
ingitis B while attending Kalamazoo
College, it submerged parents Michael
and Alicia into the darkest experi-
ence of their lives. One day Emily
had called from school complaining
of a headache and days later she was
hospitalized only to lose her short,
valiant battle with this
dreaded illness.
While Emily was on
life support, her par-
ents were asked if they
would consider organ
donation. After talking
with people at Gift Of
Life, Michigan's only
federally designated
organ recovery pro-
gram, the Stillmans
discussed organ
donation with Rabbi
Michael Moskowitz of
Emily Stillman
Temple Shir Shalom.
He shared that donat-
ing Emily's organs
would be "the biggest mitzvah or
blessing you can do:'
"In the Jewish religion, we believe if
you have saved one life, it is as if you
have saved the world: Moskowitz said.
The Stillmans then met with organ
recovery specialists and made the deci-
sion to donate Emily's organs. Emily
donated six organs to five people,
including her heart, which was given
to 34-year-old Dr. Guy Mulligan of
Ohio. Since the transplant, Mulligan,
an endocrinologist, and his wife had a
baby, and he is now the father of three
children. The Stillmans have become
so close to Mulligan that Alicia has
been known to rest her head on his
chest to listen to Emily's heat beating
inside of him.
"It has been a unique and at times
emotional experience to know the
Stillmans," Mulligan said. "They are
such a kind and loving family. They
did not deserve to lose Emily so sud-
denly and senselessly. I cannot fathom
the type of pain they are working
through each day to live with this loss.
"Before we met, and we sent letters to
one another, it was clear that knowing
me, my family, and my story in some
ways might ease this pain. When Alicia
held our newborn son, Oliver, who
entered our lives after the transplant,
I could see that it was therapeutic for
her to know that something positive
resulted from her loss. I am happy that
our families are now intertwined, and
will be for many years to come:
Mulligan's mother, Diane LiPuma
Mulligan of Ohio, has mixed emotions.
"My husband and I cannot imagine
a life situation more bittersweet than
our son, Guy, receiving the gift of
life from his donor,
tt
Emily: she said.
"The joy we feel as
his parents is forever
tempered by our deep
sorrow for the loss
Emily's family must
endure each and
N•sis•
every day. We are in
awe of their generous
decision to unselfishly
think about a way
to turn their tragedy
into something more
meaningful than a
final goodbye to their
daughter. We are
forever grateful that
Emily's gift to Guy has allowed him to
continue to father his young sons, love
his wife and his family, and serve his
patients. Emily will continue to live on
in the lives of all she has touched with
her gifts:'
Randy Schumacher of Ubly, Mich.,
who has one of Emily's kidneys, sums
it up this way: "Through the gifts of
others, we are blessed with a second
chance:
Since Emily's death, the Stillmans
have become advocates for organ
donation.
"People need to understand that the
decision we made on our darkest day
has changed the lives of countless peo-
ple and, ultimately, our own: Alicia
Stillman said. "It is not just the recipi-
ents whose lives are changed. It is for-
ever a gift for everyone who they come
in contact with, and it trickles through
all of the generations to come:'
On Nov. 14, designated as "National
Donor Sabbath" by Gift of Life to raise
awareness of organ donation, the
Stillmans will gather with at least four
out of five organ recipients and their
families at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Shir
Shalom in West Bloomfield to par-
ticipate in a service open to the com-
munity. The Stillmans will speak about
being donor parents.
•
❑