I've got butterflies...

Hi loyal readers -- I'm back after a long hiatus. And as we work to finalize the Greatest Gift Foundation Web site, I'll be ramping back up on this blog and trying to post three times a week. Once we launch, the blog will move there as a permanent feature of the site. Which gives me butterflies, both figuratively and literally! We hired an outstanding design and brand identity firm, Spyglass, to design our logo and brand, and after viewing hundreds of design sketches and ideas, we landed on one that surprised me but delighted me and everyone in the room and completely fits with our nonprofit's ethos. A simple butterfly, conveniently crafted out of a couple of lower case 'g's. Can't say for sure we're going to run with it as the final, but I suspect we will.

So I had to grin when I first saw the cover today of a new book published in part by UNOS: The Gift that Heals: Stories of hope, renewal, and transformation through organ and tissue donation. Nice little butterfly on the cover! I love the choice of the words "hope," "renewal," and "transformation," too -- all of those came up when we were talking through the butterfly logo concept with Spyglass, and all of them ring so true. I haven't read this book yet but it sounds inspiring. This is from UNOS' news release about the book, which came out in January 2008:

A few years ago, UNOS approached writer and donor dad Reg Green with the idea of writing a book about organ and tissue donation. The recently published book is titled, "The Gift That Heals: Stories of hope, renewal and transformation through organ and tissue donation." What makes this book unique is that it consists of 42 personal stories covering almost every facet of the donation/transplantation process -- the experiences of donor families, living donors, transplant candidates and recipients, donation and transplant professionals. "The goal of this book is to give readers a feel for the wide range of emotions and experiences that are inherent in this fascinating, life-saving procedure," said Walter Graham, executive director of UNOS, who conceived the idea for the book. "At the same time, we want readers to be inspired to support organ and tissue donation -- especially by declaring their intention to be donors themselves."

The book is available through publishing company AuthorHouse. It is also available through Amazon.com. The price is approximately $13. Electronic copies are available from AuthorHouse for $4.95.