Dear Family and Friends,

I am writing to tell you about my father, Alexander “Joe” Butler. My father is my best friend. Last summer he was hospitalized for the first time in his life. He underwent many tests and in the process they discovered his heart was functioning at only 25%. Learning this, I came home on an emergency leave from the Navy to help and to be with my father and our family. While there at his bedside his heart stopped. The thought of losing my dad, my best friend, was unbearable. Surgeons implanted a defibrillator and told us he will need a heart transplant. Thankfully, after many visits to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida he was placed on the heart transplant waiting list.

My dad has always been a busy man. He worked in the Aviation Industry for 35 years but always found time to be involved with raising my brother and me. We played sports year round; he was always there to cheer us on. Fishing together was our favorite pastime; he taught us everything we know. In his spare time, Dad was found indulging in his favorite hobbies working on and rebuilding old cars, and remodeling our home, neither of which he can do any longer. However, at the time of his diagnosis, I was able to bring some much needed good news. I give him the gift of knowing he was going to be a grandfather for the first time. He is now able to say his new grandson is his life. My father wants to live.