newheart_secondchance posted at Instagram:

Five years.

Five years ago, I was given more than a second chance, I was given more time.
More mornings. More laughter. More ordinary days that feel extraordinary just because I’m here to live them.

Five years with a heart that once belonged to someone else, now beating inside my chest everyday. Carrying me through healing, strength I didn’t know I had, and a life I once wasn’t sure I’d get to keep.

That life includes being Beckett’s mom. It includes school drop-offs, bedtime stories, cuddles, questions asked at the most unexpected moments, his little hand in mine, and of course our adventures. Time with my son is the greatest gift this heart has given me.

Today, I’m honoring this milestone with my first ever tattoo. An anatomical heart surrounded by pieces of my story:

-a marigold, for October, when I was diagnosed with PPCM
-a sunflower, because joy and light still matter plus it’s my favorite flower
-a rose, for the Novena prayer to St Therese of Lusieux that I prayed while on the transplant list
-a water lily, my birth flower, for rebirth and resilience
-holly, for December, the month that everything changed
-a blank space, left intentionally, in hopes that one day I learn who my donor was, so I can honor them too
-and the date, the date my life was saved

There are no words big enough for the gratitude I carry. For the doctors and nurses. For my support system. And most of all, for the donor and their family, whose loss became my life.

Five years later, I don’t take a single beat for granted.
I’m still here. I’m still fighting. And I’m so deeply thankful to keep choosing life, every day.

#PPCM #hearttransplant #tattoo #organdonation #firsttattoo

Source: Instagram,
Account-Name: newheart_secondchance

Created on: 2025-12-20 21:03:35