The Unlikely Pair Who Share A Liver and Homestead Laws Saving Women From Homelessness

This is what you have. Even this is how Americans tell stories about everything here on the show sports and from business to history and now we continue with our opportunity America series sponsored by Coke industries, which employ some 67,000 American Georgia-Pacific, a Coke company makes many of the paper products we use every day from tissue and toilet paper, paper towels, and more. And Alex Cortez now brings us the story of one of Georgia-Pacific's employees, Vic Billingsley, who lives in Hattiesburg in our own home state of Mississippi in 1998 Vic Billingsley was diagnosed with nonalcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Although Vic was able to live a pretty healthy normal life for years. It wasn't until 2007, nine whole years later that his doctor said you need a transplant and all these things going through my mind.

This had a landscape that Saturday, so there is no exit door. This is what the cards on the new scenarios where your mind is is moving at hyperspeed.

In this, it's one of those things it's just absolutely ever present.

You can't escape. I'll go to sleep and I only after being totally exhausted. I couldn't this is suppressing only an hour finally fall asleep after just being totally exhausted and would go through his experience to where not only sleep probably made a couple hours of time and when I wake up I go through this thing where I can while I was I was I was a terrible dream I had during and then the realization would hit you get that good punch of it was very this is this is your reality never played itself out whole bunch times and then came the part where you get to be admitted in the hospital didn't do the testing.

See where you fall as a candidate for transplant because just because you need one is not necessarily guaranteeing that your going to get. So then that's when the waiting game constantly had my cell phone with me everywhere when anytime phone rang and it the first thing you did was flip over which caller ID and their unit of time it rang your your sitting there wondering if this is the time that you can get that, the call came in the light Sunday morning actually was that six 630 in the morning Catherine picked up the phone, list caller ID. She asked me said his sis Sandra for an octane wide awake because that was the transplant surgeon and to line so I answer the phone and he says this is Vic this Dr. woman lots which you know we have a liver available, but I won't talk to you about it.

What we in this situation we have is 5 1/2 month old little girl in Miami, Florida, and is also in need of a transplant.

She only needs a certain part of and we can have the remainder of it.

If you elect to accept this.

He said we had we had merely done this before here, but we think we can handle it. He said the only problem will be where we face the liver, which means were late, where they make that separation cut that when we put it back in the you will. We may have some bleeding issues and rights of concern, but we but we feel confident we can handle it well.

I was fully awake and trying to process what he's telling me and I asked question I sent quick act and I cannot think about and his response was, I'll call you back in four minutes because is also a time consideration when they have these organs available so wanted to talk to my brother and my sister her being a nurse practitioner naming physician, get their opinion on so I got them on the phone my brothers in Florida. My sisters local and we start discussing it and then we also got Dr. Foreman on the phone and started come discussing and talking about it all the different ramifications such that my my sister finally said, will the Lords got us to this point and I would just have to that's what we need to place our trust in. I say we go for the decision was made. Okay will go for you know the reality, hit real hard at that time.

This is this is actually going to happen now is like lightning on a roller coaster ride. You can get off in the middle. I worried and in freighted so much to the whole experience in at the time that I got a call. I was of the 100% thought that I was going to down there and I was not going to come back. I just did not believe that thousand survive the operation and so what that brought on the flight was that morning. I honestly thought I was looking at my kids for the last time and your listing to Vic Billingsley. His story of one of the big moments of his life turning point in his life being told there was a liver available at this operation was to be difficulty assume the worst looking his kids what he thought would be for sure in his own mind. The last time. By the way Vic found comfort in his coworkers Georgia-Pacific who offered vacation time organized fundraiser shrimp and prayed with only come back more of this remarkable story. Our opportunity America series Coke industries continue during Americans view of the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, or asking you to become a part of the American stories family.

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Vic was certain that he die in this operation of a lifetime just didn't see any hope.

By the way he lost his dad to liver cancer as well and he was about to share a liver with a five month old baby named Kara, but let's go back to the story because while he was certain he was never going to see his kids again wound up all my kitchen floor. My hands leaves and I was absolutely sobbing and I think I scared my children quite quite a bit here is Vic's daughter, Haley six is all and I had no clue that I father not even every time he had a doctors appointment. He made you know not make a big deal about it. He said I say with your family friend this week. Are you staying with your friend from school this week and just kind of played it off like I just needed to be babysat because they were doing something by turns out all of the times he dropped me off. They were going to hospitals and doctors and trying to figure out a game plan for his liver transplant and I just had this look on his face like something wasn't right, but you couldn't tell it wise something was out of place.

I just remember looking out and then thinking what's wrong with you and he just kept looking at us and staring at us and he watched as fair a good bit of time and then he just starts crying out and I've never seen my father cry might not matter before or after my dad was on his hands and knees crying on the kitchen floor because he thought he was rather never see children again and me being clueless and just trying to allay a situation that was very stressful sitting in a chair about my father while he was on his knees, patting his head saying it's okay daddy I don't know is going on. My hands leaves just said, my head start. She she didn't really know will go home. She was from.

For me, she didn't know what was just on the help now and sticks out to me the folly, folly, compose myself, I must get up and did normally go head to even know he was crying. He didn't tell me why I just got dropped off family members house babysat for a week and nobody tell me what is going on nobody dated me. We didn't close them up a lot about this children sitting down and say this is what this is. We kind of kept him in the dark whether there was a good decision or a bad decision. I don't know.

It was just what the right decision so that time that if they had to worry about what I was going through that it would be very hard for them to go through.

We didn't know what their level standing within one's care and that's kind of where our decision and not really telling multiple home came so we left and started heading toward New Orleans. The whole time I'm thinking if I come back to Hattiesburg, along car with curtains on the side and finally make floor work. Things start happening.

So they start prepping the because are still waiting liver is from the donor is over in Baton Rouge so they're having to take care of getting that organ splitting it and then making the transport over New Orleans and Miami for car duck foreman will examine basically says it's this is fewer things made no if we go into this, we open you up if you find any evidence of cancer outside the liver. Then, so you back transplant offer that up somebody else that was kind of new twist to it to. I didn't understand see what you're saying but it didn't. I had had previous knowledge that so and he opened me up and there been something else.

Then Robin close to the end of the trail.

Pictures of kids Jacob Miller and Haley with me down there until the nurse said that to go in OR with. She rafted up sterile bag or whatever put in the bed with me and I remember going into the operating suite and felt like I was going into a freezer very cold merely slid over to stainless steel table juice. I woke up.

Nobody was there. One was going home.

I got pretty good bit of coding on my abdomen and then a lot of discomfort that discomfort is very much overshadowed by the fact I'm still love her even hurt can be an enjoyable experience when you're able to hurt as opposed to hurt more and little car also survives the transplant and she was such a small, delicate child and sit there and think that she had gone through the same thing that I've gone through and there's some stark differences there. First off I went in with knowledge when knowing whelming as much knowledge as could be given to the wherefores. Where is this small beautiful baby. She didn't know why she was experiencing all this and other assets, what's playing in my mind is she's going through all of this this pain, discomfort, and nobody can tell or explain to her why she just having to go through it on our own to a certain degree and then at same time. Coupled with that is totally different perspective.

When I looked at Keisha and Kurt to imagine what they is going through. When you're sitting there in your virtually helpless to do anything for your child. You know I'm surely they suffer tremendously from having good. Watch this occur and mine from the whole other flipside of the perspective of where I felt like I was going to leave children. To me that's a huge dynamic and thought goes then to for she is not a live somebody else had to perish, but through their gift. Look what they've done this beautiful child was able to continue living was labeled to continue being a parent and your listening to Billingsley and my goodness what empathy he has and should have and when we come back will continue with a compelling and beautiful story of Vic Billingsley. This is how Americans I know everything about running a coffee shop insurance I need my State Farm agent and company business owners to help the past. State Farm is in your corner and on neighbor call your local State Farm agent for quote today doing household chores can Artie be time-consuming and tedious. There's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done can be overwhelming for anyone.

If you want to get those larger laundry loads down right and get back to your life.

Try all three clear maggot packs all three clear mega packs are bigger packs two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry free, clear, mega packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and their dental and skin which is great for any family sensitive skin needs my family. We definitely have sentence again the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is. That's because this big pile of dirty clothes.

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Billingsley story successfully receiving a liver transplant atop his daughter, Haley decided to write about and essay competition for college scholarships for dad's company. Georgia-Pacific offered and led to more than a scholarship.

Here's Haley reading a portion of her lesson while and I saw why was whether I get to play with toys, watch TV after a long day of school, I slipped into my life. March 2007 was a month of wary confusion and doubt. My thought is uncivil to me as you and yet he was dying, clueless, sick child. I wise I live my life my father as an infallible hero. I can do anything less than a week he be fighting for his life on an operating table. My father was incredibly brave throughout this process is still the man walking up and down the sidelines at my soccer game. He was still the one taking yet every time I found all this time my father remained calm and steady times in his life about discovering father was previously set in recovering from major surgery change my whole viewpoint on life and the human condition.

I went from believing any only existence to contemplating suffering on, and began to understand that people are human and you cannot rely on the promise that they will be here tomorrow. My father taught me a lot deeper and honestly because life happens to my speaking. The trade become more compassionate friends about immeasurably thankful to still have my dad's example, I live my life with faith and confidence as well, I can face them. The outcome of this was waiting I was shocked. Just thought it was getting things where yeah, like buying a raffle ticket something you do and you don't ever really hear the results and it's something that someone else wins that you don't when you just do it to support a cause or to say that you tried stage luncheon from the Georgia Pacific scholarship grants and someone in his office pulled me aside like to let your participation anything. I love to tell me that they were trying to get in contact with Kara and schedule something to where she could meet my father and when she told me that I was completely shot. I said oh my gosh, that would be incredible.

I freaked out a little bit hard to keep it secret because it's something that would make my so happy if he knew that I couldn't surprise him. A few weeks later, early because we was reading through these essays and the wonder daughter was pretty interesting little bit more about you thought it was enough to do a story joy like knocking him down. Talk with you Haley for Pacific film from them so you know we'd be talking about filming and arguments about how much and not car is coming. I remember it was like TV set everything behind the scenes is quite making noises just distracted and not needed break from taking a break and started going back to the car to get something and she didn't want have stepped through all of the stuff out there from the lighting and all that you gave. It's kind of a big tall wooden gate try to go through the day before come difficult lesson through their front and she's kind of the wash. Will that she said okay she should went out the front or whatever and I remember meeting Carl meeting welcoming embracing and falling, having my own private moment with them and break a long time coming and in 12 years that I walk through the makes a lot of remember my lost your mind completely confused and Carl see their see shifts confusion and annoyance to just utter shot and all amazement she walks up his recognition curtain Keisha walking totally blown away by saying the letter and is still living that moment just one. I could not believe in everybody, smiling with this knowing smile and I realize I've been sandbagged but I was only one that didn't have any knowledge of and getting to finally give car and Keisha Kurt finally see them leave. Just just an awesome experience just felt right, were bound together we have. It sounds a little like simple funny that I do feel a very strong bond with her and it's it's it's difficult to explain, but we have a good, brings together a fashion. I don't know of any other people, tied together like she is unique and it's a blessing. And what a story. Billingsley's family story his own personal story is told us he and Carr seem very different on the outside. He's an old white guy and she's a young black lady but on the inside. They share a liver and a common belief that their children of God, that stuff really matters our opportunity America series sponsored by coconut trees.

By the way, that letter of his daughter's father spoke father gets a little like that father Billingsley story on our American story. I know everything about running a coffee shop for small business insurance. I need my state for me to make sure my incompetent business owners to help you pass. State Farm is in your corner and on like a good neighbor. There call your local State Farm agent for quote today doing household chores can Artie be time-consuming and tedious. There's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done can be overwhelming for anyone. If you want to get those larger laundry loads down right and get back to your life. Try all three clear mega packs all three clear mega packs are bigger packs two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry all three clear mega packs are also 100% free perfumes and dyes and their dental and skin which is great for any family sensitive skin needs my family. We definitely have sentence again the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is. That's because this big pile of dirty clothes. All three clear mega packs purchase all three clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types American stories and as you know we tell stories about every euro the show and some of our favorite stories well there about history today.

Faith brings us some long history from the state of Texas. The away for a few traveled much to Europe or any other country outside the US you'll see history dates from times like the 12th and 13th century soon becomes clear that young country in comparison with that being said, we much of our jurisprudence is our law system to other countries and the people that came from them to the US adopted this common law when becoming its own country access was a bit different when they became a state. Because of the Spanish influence of the lies that the Spanish brought over to Texas greatly impacted women's rights and freedoms.

There was a time, unfortunately, not terribly long ago in our history that women could not own property or have any money at their own debts to pay her taxes. The family's home could be taken, leaving the wife and children, homeless and helpless to keep this from happening.

The Spanish had brought with them their homestead exemption laws help us unpack this long history of homestead laws. If Dr. Jean Stuntz, a professor at West Texas A&M University starts back in Spain at the fall of the Roman Empire. There were Visigoths who would come down from Germany and settled in the eye.

These were Christian of course the Roman Empire was officially Christian. Then, when the Roman empire fell these Visigoths were left pretty much unprotected and splintered into very small little kingdoms all over the place in the year 711 Muslims from northern Africa invaded Spain to the rock of Gibraltar and very quickly conquered all of these little scattered kingdoms because they couldn't work together to prevent it, and the Muslims went all the way up through Spain the cross.

The transfer of stock of the year. 711 well people living in Spain were still Christian wanted to take their country back. Will these guys in Spain would go out and raid the nearest Muslim settlement for women for jewels whatever they could find.

Gradually the Christians took over more and more territory until we get to the time of his fellow when they completely cut all of the eye. Push the Muslims out now during this time.

This seven centuries or so is when the Spanish legal system developed and there were towns in Spain, people lived in towns that didn't really live out in the countryside. There you might have in other parts of Europe where legislative cells develop this law. This tradition that the man was in debt, you could not take away the tools of his trade. That is if he was a blacksmith. You could not take his ambulance hammer to pay the taxes because in the raise the money to pay you survive with his family.

If you took away the tools of his trade. This became set in stone and Spanish law that no matter how much a man owed you could not take his home. You could not take the tools of his trade. Because to do that would be a ruination for his family and that you would have to find some other way for him to pay his debt so that's in Spain and then we know that Columbus came over to the New World and discovered all the people living here already and Spanish gradually moved northward from Mexico and into Texas and so for the first hundred or so years of documentation of life in Texas. It was in this homestead exemption as English-speaking people call it was recognizes something that worked pretty well and since a lot of the Anglos coming in the Texas left behind a lot of debts back where they came from. They really like the fact that their land and their cattle and their tools of their trade could not be taken from them to pay their debts.

Texas public extension as rule of law in Texas and this lasted up until the 20th century. Late 20th century when it was modified by the Texas legislature homestead exemption had not been put in place and what happened in the rest of what became the United States. The man got into too much debt is land to BCs house could be seized all of his property to BCs and the family would be turned out this homeless in this affected women because married women were not allowed to own their own property under the common law states adopted the man gambled away his money.

It was the women and children suffer and of course women in those days had very little ways of earning money to support themselves and so the families would fall on desperate times indeed law the text Spanish was community property. This is that whenever there's a husband and wife. Anything that is gained in the marriage is split equally between.

This comes from Spain because again with all that sporadic fighting that was going on during the centuries, it became very important for women the ability to take care of themselves and especially as the Christian Spanish slowly took over more and more land had to get women to come settle in the new towns created.

This was a dangerous area. There was still fighting going on, and so they had to offer the women more and more to get them to move into this dangerous area so they offer things like well if you moved to this town where can I give women even married women the right to own their own bakeries and the money that they make with their bakeries will belong to them and not their husbands and so some of you know that makes it worthwhile to move to a dangerous area and so like this happen in women getting more and more rights.

Throughout this reconquest of Spain and so they also developed the community property system where as I said anything that is gained during the marriage blocks the husband and wife equally. The rest of Europe.

Everything belong to the husband, the wife owned nothing. She had no legal identity. She could not make a contract so she could own a business, she couldn't work for anyone because the husband went on her wages, even women committing crimes.

It was a husband who was punished so that was in the rest of Europe but in Spain, women had their own rights and responsibilities, and again this came to Texas when the Spanish came to Texas and it was such a good system for living on the frontier that the Texas legislature kind of thought you know maybe we like this and so during the Republic even though they said it law that they adopt the English common law people were saying none of the women still have the right to this property and what is really fun for historian not probably everybody else when I was reading the minutes of the constitutional convention that would allow Texas to join United States in 1845.

A lot of these delegates were worried about the debts they had left behind in Georgia and Alabama and so forth.

When they moved to Texas. Texas was a different country so the people they owed money to could not touch them in Texas Texas. They had been given all these huge tracts of land and they were no flourishing and they did not want those people back in Alabama and Georgia to be able to come take their land to pay off their debts so there was a lot of hesitation about joining United States because of this that they did not want to lose their land, but there was a lawyer and he became Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and you study Spanish law and he was at the convention and so he made his speech. He says you know, if we adopt community property law like Spain had then they cannot take your land because half of that belongs to your wife and not this hushed silence fell over this convention of men were anxious to keep hold of their own property and they said you know that might work, so they adopted the community property system to keep their land from going to their creditors really care about giving women extra rights or anything because this was the 1840s, and they didn't expect women to have the right, but if they adopted this community property system, then their creditors could not take their land and so when Texas joined the United States in 1845 it was with community property firmly in place homestead exemption and community property laws. State to state, and the laws originally brought the text from the Spanish have been modified indifferently although the male lawmakers at the time were not too concerned about women's rights. We can see that this loss in particular greatly impacted women for years to come in for that we can think the Texans and a special thanks to Dr. Jean Stuntz from West Texas A&M University gave us the history of the story behind the story of where that law came from great storytelling. By the way, all of our stories about history are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College. The story of the Texas homestead exemption was here on our American story