I always wondered what it would be like to save a life. In my mind, it was always a stranger I would save - by giving CPR, doing the Heimlich, or pulling someone out of deep water (can you tell I used to be a lifeguard?). Never did I think the person I would save would be the person who gave me life and never could I have imagined the gratification in doing so.

In December 2005, my Mom went into liver failure due to an auto immune disease. The doctors put her on the list to receive a transplant from a cadaver, but gave her the dreaded news that she would likely die waiting. They urged her to consider the living liver donation process, where they remove 60% of a healthy donor's liver for the transplant. The liver regenerates itself, allowing both adults to survive. At the time, this surgery had been done roughly 1,000 times in the US since they began less than 10 years earlier.

Without hesitation, though I can't say without fear, I wanted to do this for my Mom. Being compared to her is my ultimate compliment. Her smile and personality light up a room. She is the most interested & interesting, determined, confident, caring and generous person I know. Here we are over 25 years ago. I couldn't image life without her. I was not ready to lose my Mom.

Initially, my Mom wouldn't even discuss the idea of living donation with me. At the time, it frustrated me to no end, but now I can see her perspective.>Losing a child has to be the most tragic and unnatural thing a parent can face. The donor death rate was anywhere from 1 in 200 to 1 in 500. It took about a month, but eventually pressure by my family and me, as well as her own will to live, gave her the courage to let me begin the testing process.

Today marks the one year anniversary of our surgery. My family was together last week and we celebrated the miracle that will forever touch our lives. My Mom's health is close to perfect. I watched in elation as she kicked off her shoes at my cousin's wedding and took to the dance floor with the vigor of someone half her age. And from the smile beaming across her face, you could tell she appreciated that moment more than anyone in the room.

In many respects, I feel we are the most fortunate family on Earth. Most people are helpless when a loved one is seriously ill. Because of modern medicine including some incredibly talented surgeons, we were not. Here is a picture of Team Doyle (my Dad, Mom, me and sisters Catherine and Susan) taken last week. We couldn't have gotten through this without the love and support of each other.

What my Mom and I share now goes beyond the mother-daughter bond. During our 2 month recovery, we felt so responsible for one another's health that we could literally feel each other's pain. 2 nights after surgery when my epidural suddenly stopped administering, leaving me without anesthetic for half hour, we both cried. And, I think her agony was worse than mine as she had to watch me in pain. Though the recovery often felt slow (I occasionally wondered if I would always need to sleep 18 hours a day), the resilience of the human body truly astounds me. I wasn't able to stand the first time the nurses tried to get me out of bed.Four weeks later I got myself on a treadmill and was able to walk, albeit for just one 35-minute mile. And now the only physical ramification I have from the surgery is a scar on my abdomen, which I wear with pride.

As I went through rounds of testing to be approved as a donor, I spoke to many people at the hospital about what was ahead. They prepared me for the pain and the risk but nobody can adequately prepare you for the emotional gains. The feeling is in many ways indescribable. It is like a perpetual sense of peace, awe, happiness and confidence that is as strong today as it was on this day last year. A few days after surgery, my Mom jumped out of bed (she was on steroids-I did nothing so energetic for a while), exclaiming that she felt she had been given a second chance at life. That may forever be the single best moment of my life.

Happy Anniversary Mom! What I have given will always pale in comparison to what I have received from you and from this experience.

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I just got back from a trip to Carlsbad, California and it was buzzing. We scanned 23,000 pictures in one day! With billions of photos in shoeboxes and albums in the US alone-we still have a long way to go!

People rolled up suitcases of photos for us to scan. We had one group of sisters who brought thousands of family pictures as well as their lawn chairs and made an event out of it. One of the sisters returned a few days later with even more photos.

We had many pleas to return to San Diego. Watch this message sent by a very happy customer to Sandra Morris, General Manager of Consumer Imaging Systems (which includes Kodak Gallery).

One woman came twice within the same day. Whenever her young son got impatient being at the van - she told him "Daddy will be so happy when we get home." She was scanning his pictures from Iran, some dating back to the early 1900s that he inherited from his relatives. Another customer hugged her companion when her old family photos were done scanning because she was so ecstatic to finally have them digitized. It is fantastic to see customers so delighted by the Kodak Gallery Scan Van. Clara liked the service so much, she wrote about it in her own blog http://clarawallace.blogspot.com/. Thanks Clara - we all loved seeing your feedback!

Kodak Gallery's Wendy Hoffman visited the Scan Van in Carlsbad as well and had this to say, "It was so interesting to see how many families have one member who assumes the role of family historian and picture archivist. I met several women like that this week, and they enjoyed showing us their pictures and sharing their family stories. They were so excited about the opportunity to digitize so many of their pictures in such a short time. One woman was preparing to assemble her collection in a photo book in time for her next bi-annual family reunion. She brought the contents of three photo albums dating back to the late 1800s.

Another had gathered photos from the estates of her two grandparents and was planning to show them for the first time to her extended family through a link to her album on Kodak Gallery. Still another became teary-eyed showing us pictures of her father who arrived on Ellis Island with nothing in his pockets and no ability to speak English. Her pictures showed his remarkable progress as he became more and more prosperous. She plans to document his life in a photo book creating 'new memories' for her grandchildren."

The Scan Van has said goodbye (at least for now) to Southern California and is en route to South Florida. We kick off April 13^th and 14^th in Coral Gables. Tales from the East Coast coming soon...

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...often go astray. So, I said I'd come back with tales from the road and this is a good one. Launch Day - we proudly arrive in our bright, shining, eye-catching Scan Van at Laguna Hills Mall and are met by an unfamiliar bouncer - the Fire Marshall. He insisted on disconnecting the battery and we quickly moved onto Plan B for powering the vehicle - our muscles.

Needless to say - the early bird mall walkers were shocked to see us coming. I witnessed all that got packed into that van when we did a dry run the night before, so I was ready to work up a sweat. Surprisingly, when you put a multi-ton vehicle into neutral, it was fairly easy to move. But, it was still teamwork at its finest and we eventually got to our home outside of JC Penney's.

For the past couple of weeks, the van has been touring around Southern California. From college guys to mothers to war veterans - our customers have loved it.

We met a family genealogist scanning photos to send to her distant relatives in Sweden who just learned of their American relations. We met a man who was going to create a photo book of his newly digitized photos to give to his younger cousin who never met some of their older relatives. Another woman wanted to digitize photos of her daughter who recently died, leaving 3 small children. This woman wanted her grandchildren to have some way of remembering their mother. Photos are emotional - they remind us of the most important people and times in our lives.

Most people who come to the van return with more pictures because it was much faster and easier than they expected. One woman came 3 times. Another drove 2 hours for her appointment. Some bring us 1,000 plus photos. Listen to what our customers have to say....

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In shoeboxes under your bed? In albums on your bookshelves? In photo development sleeves in your attic?

We all have them. They are often our most prized possessions. And yet, they are usually completely vulnerable and at huge risk of being damaged. Mine are in a storage unit. I recently heard the dreaded news that there was a fire in the facility and a flood ensued as the firefighters extinguished it. My heart sank-not because of the random clothes (probably out of style by now) or kitchenware (which never got used anyway) that I was storing - but because every photo I took until the age of 30 was there.

[Enter the Kodak Gallery Scan Van which launched today.]

Maybe it was a dose of foreshadowing that months ago, I was asked to manage the Kodak Gallery Scan Van project, which offers our customers the opportunity to have their print photos scanned in just minutes. For the next three months, we will be bringing our Scan Van to 25 festivals, malls and retail stores throughout Southern California and South Florida. Once at the Scan Van, our Kodak reps take over: setting customers up with a Kodak Gallery account, scanning their photos (literally in minutes - while they wait) and uploading them straight to kodakgallery.com. The newly digitized images can then be shared with family and friends and used to create cool products.

We are giving a new life and all sorts of creative possibilities to peoples' most treasured photos. I think of my Mom, elated when I gave her a calendar with recent photos of her grandkids, and wonder what her reaction would have been if the pictures were from her youth with her ten siblings and parents who are now deceased. What if I could send my parents an anniversary card with a picture of them at their own wedding? Or - if I could give my nephew a framed print of his Mom (my sister) at her first soccer game? And of course - I can't help but think of the peace of mind I'd have the next time there is a fire and flood at my storage facility, knowing that my memories are still alive just a few clicks away at Kodak Gallery.

Okay - it's time for me to get scanning. Stay tuned for tales from the road.....

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