Loose Leaf Notes

I had never heard of Giant Cell Myocarditis until our friend Jesse was struck with it. It’s a rare viral infection of the heart that is generally fatal without a heart transplant. Nobody knows why Jesse, a vibrant 30 year old, contracted the illness, but he did. He was working with my husband at Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) when he got sick and ended up spending some six months in the ICU. Jesse nearly lost his life and would have if his friends and family hadn’t rallied together as his advocates, if his doctors hadn’t agreed to try a risky procedure in spite of the fact that his survival chances were looking slim.

He got the transplant. He started to heal, had to learn to breathe, talk, swallow and walk all over again. He proposed to his girlfriend Oana while still in the hospital. She, one of his strongest advocates throughout the ordeal, said yes, which is why Joe and I were feeling on top of the world last weekend when we celebrated their wedding in Charlottesville.

Jesse and Oana were married by Swami mystics on top of the Blue Ridge at Pippin Hill Winery. It was a joyous and poignant wedding, especially considering Jesse’s turnaround and the couple’s romantic, yet challenging, courtship.

It was also a reunion of dynamic graduates from Harvard Kennedy School, where Jesse and Oana went to graduate school.  There was a woman who works for Bono’s charity and an Irish Parliament member that Jesse helped get elected, using the skills he honed while working on the Obama campaign in 2008.  Jesse’s professor from Stanford University (where Jesse went to undergraduate school) was just coming back from a Climate Change conference in India. We danced with his high school Honors English teacher. Oana’s family was there from Romania.

Other guests, according to the wedding survey that Jesse and Oana had printed out (and which served to help us all get to know each other), came from Germany, Italy, Argentina, Peru, St. Thomas, Kenya and from other places across the country and globe.

From what I could gather Jesse and Oana met while salsa dancing in school. We were treated to a passionate dance by couple at the reception (watch a clip HERE), as well as humorous roasting and toasting and a song for each, written and performed by The Groomsmen (watch HERE and HERE). The food and wine were superb and the love shared over the wedding weekend was heartfelt.

Post notes: Jesse is back to work at iBme, part time. He’s also working on a book about his experience. You can read his brief published account of that HERE. Watch a clip of Jesse and Oana exchanging their wedding vows HERE