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In Memory of Susan Renee Ledford 1962-2010
To Renee:
One day as God was looking down upon His world and His creation, He turned to His right hand side and said, “Some of my children down there in and around Cleveland County are in trouble.  So many of them are sick physically, mentally, and emotionally.  They are confused, frightened, and financially unable to cope with the illnesses that have befallen them.  Many do not even have families to lean on for support.  In some cases there are families, but the family members are just as devastated and bewildered as the patient is.  They need help!”
“We need someone to go down there and live among them - someone to give them hope, and direction.  It will take someone really special!  She will have to be totally human, endure the same experiences as my other children do --- love happiness, joy, ambition, pain, suffering, disappointment, frustration, failure, rejection, and a host of others.  In order to help the others, she must be intelligent, knowledgeable about the human body - their illnesses - their treatments - their medicines and the consequences of some of these.  She must understand the mental and emotional havoc that can, and often is created in the lives of the patients as well as their families.  In order to succeed, she must be able to personally endure the experiences and still retain her sense of faith and purpose in her own life.  She will need to be strong - really strong!  She will also need a good family to provide care, comfort, and encouragement in her mission! - who can we send?”
Jesus answered, “I know just the one!”
On June 15, 1962, Margaret Ledford gave birth to a beautiful, bright – eyed, baby girl.  The deliriously happy parents named you Susan Renee.
The first indication of the type of problems you would have to face came right there in the hospital, immediately after your birth.  You had chronic asthma, a condition that would plague you for the rest of your life.
We got a glimpse of the strength and determination you were going to have when at age two, you insisted on walking into the doctor’s office all alone to “get my asthma shots by myself”.
The truly remarkable faith you possessed, even as a child, was demonstrated when, at age nine, you were being prepped for the first of many life-threatening or permanently crippling surgeries for severe scoliosis.  As you were being wheeled up to the operating room, both your mom and I were scared to death and fighting tears.  You took Margaret’s hand, smiled calmly and said, “Don’t cry Mom, I’ll be all right.  Jesus is with me!”
The next seven years, which should have been ‘normal’ adolescence and exciting teenage years, were filled with surgery after surgery, months even years of hospitalization, back braces, pelvic haloes, spinal rods, body casts, and your ever present companion chronic asthma.
Amazingly through all or this, instead of complaining and asking “why me”, you were busy sharing your faith and constantly encouraging your family, which now included baby sister, Michelle.
Immediately after graduation from high school, instead of heading to the beach with your class mates, we headed for Duke University Hospital.  It was the beginning of your journey through the world of chronic kidney failure.
Years of dialysis, of medicine, four kidney transplants, organ rejection, unbelievable amounts of medicines, side effects of medication including bone deterioration, hospitalization after hospitalization, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and other untold complications would fill a medical journal.  That a human body could sustain and endure such abuse is a miracle in itself.  However, the real miracle lies in what your mind, heart, and spirit endured and what you still accomplished in spite of (or maybe because of) these overwhelming obstacles.
After ten long years of starting, dropping out, losing credit hours, and starting over again, you finally got that diploma from Gardner Webb University!  Without a doubt, your mother and I were the proudest parents at that graduation.  Your degree in Health Services and Counseling provided the formal knowledge and training, but it was your personal experiences, your endless love for other people, and your unfailing conviction of God’s purpose in your life that guided you in your life of service to others.
The dream of an organization dedicated to the service and assistance to chronic renal failure patients was formulated by you and Margaret between transplants and during one of your periods of dialysis.  What an awesome force God unleashed upon this world when he teamed you and your Mother together!  The work of the Cleveland – Rutherford Kidney Association and its effects in the lives of kidney failure victims is known not only locally but all across the state and country as well.
Your many severe physical impairments brought about by transplant rejection medication, scoliosis surgery and asthma made it impossible for you to hold a regular job.  As usual you did not view this as ‘a curse’, but rather as an opportunity to carry out God’s will in your life.  As the volunteer patient-services co-coordinator for the Kidney Association, you wound up working far more than the forty hours per week of a regular job.  How many people would insist on being at that desk in your office even though many, many days you were almost too sick to even sit up, simply because “my patients need me”? 
Not many people know how many hours you spent begging drug companies for samples, grants, or reduced rates so a patient might have a chance too? –Charles knew!  So did Edgar – Nancy—Ronnie—Jimmy—Blake----.
Few people know the hours and hours you spent poring over budgets – income versus expenses – trying to find a way for patients to have power, heat or food without skipping their medicines.  David knew~ so did Mary—John—Bobbie—James—Grady-----. 
How many company executives got to know you on a first name basis because of your constant phone calls:  This is Renee Ledford with the Kidney Association.  We have a patient who needs ___.”  Most businessmen in Cleveland County did.
Not many people knew the hours you spent with relatives of patients in the hospital, or with them after a patient had died – crying with them, consoling and comforting them – just being there.  Benny knew—James did—Linda did—Ruth did—Sammy did ----. 
Few people were aware of the hours you spent with new patients and their families _ explaining dialysis, organ transplantation – organ rejection, drugs, medicines, side effects, or just talking and listening.  You had a way of reassuring them, calming their fears, encouraging them to live their lives as fully as possible, in spite of this terrible disease.  You could do this in a way that only you could—you had been there!
The last six months or so almost seem unreal:  All those weeks and months at Duke and Charlotte _ all those tubes _ IV’s, ventilators, breathing machines, monitors, doctors, nurses, tears and prayers.  Yet, when you were awake you worried about your patients, your sister Shellie, your Aunt Pam, the other patients around you, and of course me and your mom.  Speaking of your mom:  other than from God, it’s easy to see where you got your strength and compassion.  God sure knew what he was doing when he sent you to her.  I will always marvel at the strength of that woman.  No one, other than you, me and Shellie will ever know the depth of the devotion and unending love she showed through all  those years of taking care of you, sharing your suffering, tears, pain, and even your faith and joy.
We were not ready to lose you.  How could we be?  You were always there.  You just always seemed to endure, fight and win.  This time it was not to be.  God finally said, “Enough!  Your job is done – Come on Home!
Knowing you are finally whole and at peace makes your absence easier to take.    Your mother said it best; I love her enough to let her go!”
Renee, your legacy of unselfish love and service to others will never be forgotten.  The lives you have touched are untold and the accomplishments you have achieved will have unending and ever-increasing effects.  Maybe now you know just how proud we are of you.
There will always be a void in a lot of lives including our family, which can never be filled.  The world and our lives are a far brighter place because you passed through.  Just know that you were, and still are, loved beyond measure.
If God ever allowed one of his angels to live among his children here on the earth – It was Susan Renee’ Ledford. --- And he let you call me Daddy!

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