Making - and Answering - the Call
September 28, 2012
By Rob Kaminski
benchmarks editor
“Life is a game with many rules but no referee. Small wonder, then, that so many play dirty, that so few win, that so many lose.” – Joseph Brodsky, Russian Poet and Essayist
To varying degrees, the world of athletics mirrors society. There are winners and losers. There are participants who look for ways to skirt the rules. However, in considering Mr. Brodsky's quotation above, there is one glaring difference between sports and life. Our games do have referees. Because of that, dirty play is less rampant and our games have more winners than losers, for the scoreboards only tell part of the story. There are lessons in winning and losing within the framework of enforced rules, lessons which equip young people with the tools to make society a little better in the future.
In life, the deck is stacked in favor of the players. According to one 2010 census, there were 1.8 police officers per 1,000 citizens in Michigan, a ratio which ranked 40th in the United States.
In contrast, during the 2011-12 school year, there were 37.2 registered MHSAA officials per 1,000 high school participants. Maybe, just maybe, that’s why school sports are at odds with Brodsky’s depiction of society; there are simply more cops on the beat.
At the very least, officials play a vital role in the existence of school sports. The games can’t go on without these men and women, and the MHSAA annually seeks improved recruitment and retention methods to promote growth of this group so integral to the health of its product.
They answer the call
So who are these people whose best work goes unnoticed; of whom perfection is the expectation; and who automatically alienate 50 percent of interested parties each time they make a decision? Who applies for this job? Why are some suited for the task, and others not? Asking why people leave the officiating life can often reveal just as many clues as talking to those who stay.
In 2004, the MHSAA conducted a survey targeting former officials to reveal their reasons for leaving the avocation and ask what might be done to bring them back.
The top three reasons people hung up their whistles or other tools of the trade were as follows: 1) career change/job demands; 2) poor sportsmanship by coaches and fans; 3) local association politics. Time spent away from family was also cited as a prime reason for leaving the games.
Eight years later, in a survey this August, the MHSAA again called upon former officials to generate data which can be helpful in recruiting new officials or luring back “retired” veterans.
Of more than 600 respondents at press time, the consensus of comments indicate a shift in culture. Career and personal demands no longer top the chart as reasons for leaving. Today’s barometer indicates that local association politics (the ability to receive games and advance through the ranks) and a lack of adequate training for new, younger, officials rank as the prime reasons for people exiting the game relatively early in their quest.
Sportsmanship concerns for the behavior of coaches, parents and participants still rates as the second-greatest deterrent.
“It is imperative to survey our constituents on a frequent basis so we can react to the various factors which prompt trends in the industry,” said Mark Uyl, MHSAA assistant director who oversees the state’s 12,000 registered officials. “I think we’ve successfully addressed some issues based on the findings from the 2004 survey, and we expect to analyze this year’s questionnaire at length to address the most pressing issues accordingly.”
The majority of the slips filling the suggestion box from the August survey: 1) provide increased training opportunities for new officials; 2) work with local associations to create more opportunities for new people to receive a greater number of games; 3) allow officials to rate schools and coaches, and develop programs for peer evaluation, rather than receiving ratings from coaches only.
The MHSAA has made strides in tackling each issue, and this year’s data will further focus its efforts to improve the officiating environment.
In recent years, the MHSAA has conducted officials camps in basketball and football (see stories on pages 14 and 33) and created an officials video training page on MHSAA.com.
While the officials ratings still come from the schools, local approved officials associations now submit candidates for MHSAA tournament assignments, and the nominations hold more weight with the MHSAA than ever before. As a result, local associations are better evaluating their members.
Additionally, officials can now access and submit a school sportsmanship feedback form to rate school facilities and coach, player and spectator behavior. Findings from this year’s survey indicate that officials would like a more detailed system, and a greater emphasis on sportsmanship education for coaches. To that end, the MHSAA offers one of the most comprehensive coaches education programs in the nation through its Coaches Advancement Program, and offers incentives to those who register for classes, many of which tout sportsmanship.
“We also encourage local associations to communicate with leagues and conferences outside the playing boundaries,” Uyl said. “Several associations invite coaches to a meeting or two each year for honest, face-to-face discussion. We’ve also been told of schools which invite a veteran official to parents meetings or team meetings prior to the season to help explain rules and their role in the games. Conversation in these settings serve our members well and assist in breaking down barriers.”
Key to growth and improvement of MHSAA sports officials are the efforts of local approved associations.
“There is no question that any successes we enjoy as a state association are directly related to the leadership of our local associations,” Uyl said. “Through programs like our train-the-trainers sessions each summer we can put the wheels in motion, but the real grass-roots education of our men and women happens in communities throughout the state. And, the people in place to carry out our officials education are second to none.”
Recruitment starts with family
If there’s anything you’ll take from this issue of benchmarks, it’s that there are no better recruiters, – no more qualified individuals to blare the trumpets – than officiating’s own family members. It’s a recurring theme repeated by numerous individuals.
Carl Van Heck, assigner for the West Michigan Umpires Association, said his association attempts to identify MHSAA-registered umpires in the area not currently members of the WMUA and invite them to join. His association also attracts a few individuals per year through an ad in the Grand Rapids Press. The real recruitment and retention begins once the rookies are in the association.
“Our executive board recently voted to install a mentoring program which will pair a veteran official to work a number of games with a new official to get him or her started on the right foot,” said Van Heck. “This is on a voluntary basis for both the veteran and the newcomer, and they are assigned these games in addition to their regular schedule.
“We also conduct an annual clinic on a Saturday at Grand Valley State University that is free to all of our members. We want the best-trained umpires both new and old to put on the field for the schools we work for.”
That’s the hook; making new officials feel comfortable while increasing their skill level and affording them ample opportunities to work.
While much of this responsibility falls to the local level, much is also expected of the MHSAA to assist in this process.
“The biggest obstacles young referees face in officiating high school soccer matches are legalistic rule changes, lack of expert feedback and lack of opportunity,” said Alex Smith, president of the Greater Lansing Area Soccer Referees Association. Smith opines that onfield issues in soccer are often met with the addition of a new rule, and in many instances there aren’t enough knowledgeable leaders to assist the younger soccer officials.
“For excited young or new referees looking to improve, there are few, if any, options for unbiased or expert feedback for them to consult,” Smith said, while adding that continued efforts between GLASRA and the MHSAA could soothe development issues.
“Certainly, in recent years GLASRA and others have given MHSAA credit for beginning to address these weaknesses. It's our hope that MHSAA continues to refine, streamline and improve its development and retention of new officials,” Smith said.
Uyl agrees, and welcomes input from all entities around the state.
“Some of the areas identified from GLASRA and other associations in other sports continue to be on the radar for improvement and change,” Uyl said. “Frank, honest and professional feedback is the only way we can keep moving forward in the right direction together with all of our officials.”
Onward and upward
At times, it seems, the biggest roadblock to officials advancement is officials themselves, resulting from a collision of two eras.
When it comes to younger officials proclaiming a lack of training opportunity and game assignments, how much of it is a reflection of societal change? Newer officials are raised in a world of instant gratification; from fast food, to satellite TV, to smart phones and the Internet, they are of the culture that gets anything it wants, when it wants.
Older officials, who tend to be the assigners, have an understanding of what it takes to work the highest levels of a sport. They know what they’ve been through to move up the ranks, and they know who they’ve moved up with. It becomes a matter of trusting the known, and being suspicious of the unknown. Yes, at times, the industry can be a “good ol’ boy network.”
The challenge is to make sure the new kids are aware of existing training opportunities and the investment necessary for advancement, while opening the veterans’ eyes to a pool of new talent and identifying those best suited to lead the neophytes.
“Again, I think this is an area that’s improving as we try to encourage our leaders around the state to take ownership in the development of our young officials,” Uyl said. “We constantly encourage our associations to nominate ‘new blood’ for our tournaments, and I think associations can take pride in turning out young people who are knowledgeable, physically fit and passionate about this business we’re in. It’s a people business, first and foremost, so it’s paramount that our own kind work together.”
As mentioned, the MHSAA began seeking greater input from approved associations for its tournament selection a few years back. While the coaches rating system still serves as one of the gauges, the ratings are not the be-all, end-all when it comes to assignments. Local associations need to take that lead.
“We promote our officials from the subvarsity level to the varsity level based on ratings, and there is a lack of ratings from our local schools for officials working on the subvarsity level,” Van Heck said. “We tend to lose officials who after the third year are not advancing due to lack of ratings.”
The WMUA’s new mentor program can serve to change the culture there. As more feedback is gathered from veteran officials working with the newcomers, less weight can be attached to coaches ratings which seldom arrive.
In any line of work, people want to be rewarded for their efforts, or, at the very least, appreciated by their peers. If it’s motivation, education and affirmation that young officials are seeking, there will be no better place to look than Grand Rapids next July. A day-long event tailored to high school officiating in Michigan takes place Saturday, July 27, preceding the 2013 National Sports Officials Association Summit. All registered MHSAA officials are encouraged to attend. Registration information will be posted to MHSAA.com later this fall.
Last call
Survey examines reasons for calling it quits
Following is a sampling of responses from former officials offering reasons for leaving the playing fields and arenas, along with suggestions for retention. Complete survey results can be found on the Officials page of MHSAA.com.
- “Maybe some further education for the coaches, who in turn can educate their parents, might help the process. We, as officials, don't question the play calls of the head coach publicly. Why should it be fair for the coach to question the calls of the official publicly?”
- “Find a way to schedule officials who want to work games. People want to work, but no one wants to schedule them. I often hear it is a lack of experience, but you can't get experience unless you work games.”
- “When a new member comes on board, have an experienced official contact him or her immediately about assignments. This will make his or her first game more comfortable. Officials are team players just like those who they will officiate.”
- “The time away from family, the cost and effort to stay certified, and the commitment to staying conditioned and prepared for the level of play unfortunately does not surpass the "lack of fun" that refereeing soccer has become. A solution seems unrealistic because of the scope of the problem – but it needs to start somewhere. Great idea to send this survey and begin the process of improvement.”
- “I was woefully unprepared and lacked the knowledge necessary to be an effective official. If it weren't for an optional clinic I took part in, I would have been a disaster. A lot of that is on me, but I can't believe I was let on the field by the MHSAA considering how little training and information I was provided. Rookie officials need more shadowing and more observation before being put into a game.”
- “I just wanted to officiate middle school sports and was very comfortable with this level. I quickly learned being part of a local association of officials and going through that hoopla was more of a pain. I got a couple games because I knew the middle school administration, but that was too short-lived.”
- “Legislate how much the assigners can charge young official to attend camps. I found that the amount of instruction was not commensurate with the charge. I don't have a major problem with assigners being compensated for their organizing and other things they might being doing. However, officials should not have to break even or operate at a loss when the assigners are padding their pockets.”
- “Improve education on how to prepare for unreasonable fans, coaches and parents. Also improve on the efforts of team’s comprehension of rules. Coach and fan behavior: I’ve officiated 25-30 minor league baseball games. We take more abuse at the high school level. It just got old.”
- “I believe coaches and athletic directors should introduce graduating seniors to local associations. This would get younger people involved.”
Retired Official Gives Alpena AD New Life with Donated Kidney - 'Something I Had to Do'
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 3, 2024
TAWAS CITY – Jon Studley woke up Feb. 20 with a lot of fond memories on his mind, which turned into a collection of 47 photos posted to Facebook showing how he’d lived a fuller life over the past year with Dan Godwin’s kidney helping power his body.
There was Studley at the beach, taking a sunset shot with wife Shannon and their 5-year-old daughter Maizy. In others Dad and daughter are at the ice rink, making breakfast and hitting pitches in the yard. Studley made it to Ford Field to cheer on the Lions, supported his Alpena High athletes at MHSAA Finals and traveled to Orlando for a national athletic directors conference.
Their faces are beaming, a far cry from much of 2021 and 2022 and the first few months of 2023 as the Studleys and Godwins built up to a weekend in Cleveland that recharged Jon’s body and at least extended his life, if not saved it altogether.
“People that saw me before transplant, they thought I was dying,” Studley recalled Feb. 21 as he and Godwin met to retell their story over a long lunch in Tawas. “That’s how bad I looked.
“(I’m) thankful that Dan was willing to do this. Because if he didn’t, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
By his own admission, Studley will never be able to thank Godwin enough for making all of this possible. But more on that later.
Studley and Godwin – a retired probation officer and high school sports official – hope their transplant journey together over the last 23 months inspires someone to consider becoming a donor as well.
For Studley, the motivation is obvious. Amid two years of nightly 10-hour dialysis cycles, and the final six months with his quality of life dipping significantly, Studley knew a kidney transplant would be the only way he’d be able to reclaim an active lifestyle. And it’s worked, perhaps better than either he or Godwin imagined was possible.
For Godwin, the reasons are a little different – and admittedly a bit unanticipated. He’d known Studley mostly from refereeing basketball games where Studley had served as an athletic director. He’d always appreciated how Studley took care of him and his crew when they worked at his school. But while that was pretty much the extent of their previous relationship, some details of Studley’s story and similarities to his own really struck Godwin – and led him to make their lifelong connection.
“It’s been rewarding for me. I have told Jon, and I’ve said this to anyone who would listen, that I’m grateful and feel lucky that I’ve been part of this process,” Godwin said. “I don’t feel burdened. I don’t feel anything except a sense of appreciation to Jon that he took me on this journey. I didn’t expect that, but that’s how I feel.”
Making a connection
As of March, there were 103,223 people nationwide on the national organ transplant waiting list, with 89,101 – or more than 86 percent – hoping for a kidney, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). More than 46,000 transplants were performed in 2023, including the sharing of more than 27,000 kidneys.
Godwin giving one to Studley was among them.
Studley, 43, has served in school athletics for most of the last two decades since graduating with his bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University. After previously serving as an assistant at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, he became the school’s athletic director at 2009. He moved to Caro in 2012, then to his alma mater Tawas in 2015 for a year before going to Ogemaw Heights. He then took over the Alpena athletic department at the start of the 2020-21 school year, during perhaps the most complicated time in Michigan school sports history as just months earlier the MHSAA was forced to cancel the 2020 spring season because of COVID-19.
He's respected and appreciated both locally and statewide, and was named his region’s Athletic Director of the Year for 2019-20 by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Concurrently with serving at Sacred Heart and earning his master’s at CMU, Studley served as athletic director of Mid Michigan College as that school brought back athletics in 2010 for the first time in three decades. He also served four years on the Tawas City Council during his time at Tawas High and Ogemaw Heights.
Toward the end of his senior year of high school in 2001, Studley was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. For the next two decades, he managed his diabetes primarily with insulin and other medication. But during that first year at Alpena, his health began to take a turn. Studley had been diagnosed with a heart condition – non-compaction cardiomyopathy – which led him to Cleveland Clinic for testing. A urine test in Cleveland indicated his kidneys might not be working like they should – which led to a trip to a specialist and eventually the diagnosis of kidney failure and the start of dialysis, with a kidney transplant inevitable.
Dialysis long has been a standard treatment for people with kidney issues. But it can take a toll. In Studley’s case, that meant being tired all the time – to the point of falling asleep at his desk or having to pull over while driving. He wasn’t receiving enough nutrients and was unable to lift things because of the port for the dialysis tube. Extra fluid building up that his body wouldn’t flush made him constantly uncomfortable.
The next step was transplant, and in July 2021 he was approved to receive a kidney.
The Studleys thought they had a prospect early on, as an aunt on Shannon’s side was a candidate for a paired match – her blood and tissue types weren’t a match for Studley, but matched another person on the waiting list whose donor would be a candidate to give Studley a kidney. But that didn’t work out.
Others showed interest and asked about the process, especially after Studley’s 20-year class reunion in 2021, but nothing concrete came about. Amid the early disappointment, Studley took some time to consider his next move – and then put out a plea over Facebook that fall to his close to 1,000 connections hoping that someone, anyone, might consider.
“I took a week to really think about it – this is what I’m asking for someone to do. I had to get over it in my mind that it was OK to ask,” Studley said. “I’m going to ask someone to make a sacrifice for me, and that’s not me. I always want to help everybody else.”
Godwin is that way too. And immediately after reading Studley’s post, he knew he needed to consider making a call.
Strong match
Godwin had moved to Tawas City from Midland in 2014, and after a few years off from officiating decided to get back on the court that following winter.
He thinks he and Studley may have crossed paths at some point during Studley’s tenures at Sacred Heart and Caro, but it was at Tawas where they got to know each other. Although Studley stayed at Tawas just one school year, Godwin continued officiating for him at Ogemaw Heights – and in fact, Godwin’s final game in 2018 was there, during the District basketball tournament. That night, during the first quarter, Godwin tore the plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He didn’t know if he’d be able to finish the game – the officials from the first game that night stuck around to step in just in case – but thanks in part to Studley connecting Godwin with the Alpena trainer during halftime, he was able to get through the final two quarters and finish his officiating career on his feet.
They’d become Facebook “friends” at some point, so Godwin had seen Studley’s posts over the years with Shannon and Maizy. And when he saw Studley ask for help, something hit him – “immediately.”
“I have a 5-year-old granddaughter, almost exactly the same age as Jon’s, and I’m the dad of one child, a daughter, so there were those connections,” Godwin said. “It almost didn’t feel like there was a choice. It felt like it was something I had to do.”
Godwin is 66 and always has been in good health. He’s also always been an organ donor on his driver's license and given blood, things like that. But he had never considered sharing an organ as a living donor until reading Studley’s post.
He read it again to his wife Laurie. They talked it over. He explained why he felt strongly about donating, even to someone he didn’t know that well. After some expected initial fears, Laurie was in. Their daughter had the same fears – What about the slight chance something could go wrong? – but told Laurie she knew neither of them would be able to change her dad’s mind.
“It took me a while to get on board with it, even though I knew in the vast majority of cases somebody who donates an organ is going to be absolutely fine. It’s still major surgery,” Laurie said. “I guess he was just feeling so much like it was something he wanted to do, and he is a very healthy physically fit person. So I felt the odds were really good that he was going to be fine.
“And really, probably, the deciding factor was Maizy. We have a granddaughter the same age, so we were just thinking she needs a dad.”
After a few more days of contemplation, Dan called Cleveland Clinic to find out how to get started.
Then he texted Studley.
“I was nervous saying yes. At first, I didn’t know what to say – I just kept saying, ‘You don’t have to do this, but I appreciate it,’” Studley said. “I never want to have somebody do something for me unless (the situation is dire) … so I told him thank you and I appreciate it, and no pressure.”
Generally, Studley said, the donor and recipient don’t receive information on how the other person is progressing through the process. Godwin, however, kept Studley in the loop, which was a good thing. “But then you’re wondering if it’s going to happen,” Studley said, “if it’s truly a match.”
The initial blood test showed that Godwin wasn’t just a match, but a “strong” match, meaning they share a blood type – the rarest, in fact – and Godwin also didn’t have the worrisome antibodies that could’ve caused his kidney to refuse becoming part of Studley’s body.
That was amazing news. But just the start. “There was so much more we had to go through just to get to surgery day,” Studley said.
Long road ahead
Studley relates the transplant process to a job interview. After meeting with a potential boss, the candidate must wait for an answer – and it could come the next day, or the next week, or months later.
There were several more tests for both to take to make sure the transplant had not only a strong enough chance of being successful, but also wouldn’t be harmful for either of them.
“Right up until the time of the donation, (things) can happen. Like they did blood work on me the Friday before the kidney transplant on Monday, and if that had showed something they were going to send me home,” Godwin said. “So I just kept thinking, is this going to work? It seemed that there were more things that could go wrong than the possibility that it could go right. And that sets everybody up for disappointment – me, because I was invested in doing it, and of course Jon and his family because it was important to them.”
Godwin made a trip to Cleveland Clinic in November – about three months before the surgery. It wasn’t a great visit. His electrocardiogram showed a concern, and a few suspicious skin lesions were an issue because donors must be cancer-free. Almost worse, he couldn’t get in for a follow-up appointment for six weeks.
The wait felt longer knowing not only that there was a possibility for disappointment for Studley, but also the potential something could be unwell with Godwin. But then came good news – at his follow-up, Godwin aced his stress test, alleviating any heart concerns, and the dermatologist said the lesions were basal cell carcinoma and not considered risky to the transplant.
Over the next three months, both Godwin and Studley continued to do whatever they could to keep the transplant on track. To avoid COVID, Godwin and his wife isolated as much as they could, and Studley began wearing a mask frequently at work. Godwin cut out alcohol and coffee and began walking regularly to keep in tip-top shape.
In January 2023, both got the final OK, and the surgery was scheduled for Feb. 20.
But that wasn’t the end of the anxiety.
Studley also had undergone a series of tests and doctor visits, and two days before the transplant he had to get a tooth removed to avoid a possible infection.
Then, on the way from Alpena to Cleveland, Studley’s vehicle hit a deer.
“How is this going to go now?” he recalled thinking. “This is how it started. What’s going to happen now?”
Both arrived in Cleveland safely, eventually. The families stayed apart all weekend, Studley and Godwin communicating briefly by text to check in. There were a few more stop-and-go moments. Godwin’s Friday blood work showed something unfamiliar that ended up harmless. On the day of the surgery, Studley was wheeled to just outside the operating room – and then taken back to his hospital room for another 15 minutes of suspense. Once Studley made it into the operating room, his doctors had to pause during the surgery to tend to an emergency.
But finally, the transplant was complete. And seemingly meant to be. Godwin’s kidney was producing urine for Studley’s body before the surgeons had finished closing him up.
Back on his feet
Studley said he knew he’d be fine once he could start walking the hallways at the hospital; he started doing so the next morning. Later that same day after transplant, on the way back from one of those walks, he saw Godwin for the first time since they’d both arrived in Cleveland. “It was absolutely emotional,” Godwin said.
Godwin went home four days after the surgery. Studley stayed the next month with appointments and labs twice a week. Shannon remained with him the first week, then friends Mike Baldwin and Josh Renkly and Studley’s father Larry took turns as roommates for a week apiece.
For the first three months, including his first two back in Alpena, Studley couldn’t go anywhere except for the trip to Cleveland every other week – which has now turned into every other month with virtual appointments the months in between. Total he missed about six months of work – and thanked especially assistant athletic director and hockey coach Ben Henry for shouldering the load in his absence.
Studley’s checkups are full of more good news. His body is showing no signs of rejecting the kidney. And as long as he keeps his diabetes under control, that shouldn’t affect his new organ either.
Shannon sees the difference while comparing a pair of family trips. The Studleys went to Disney World while Jon was on dialysis, and she said he made it through but got home just “depleted.” This past spring break, the family went to Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Jon had visibly more energy for hiking and other activities. The last six months of dialysis, Jon was sleeping a lot, but this spring he’s helping coach Maizy’s T-ball team and overall is able to spend more quality time with her.
“Most of (Maizy’s) life she’s only known him as sick Dad,” said Shannon, a counselor at Alpena’s Thunder Bay Junior High. “He wasn’t able to do a lot of things with her, and I’ve seen a lot more of that, and I think she notices.”
Jon will be taking anti-rejection medicine and a steroid every 12 hours for the rest of his life, but that and some other little life adjustments are more than worth it. All anyone has to do is look at those 47 photos from the Facebook post to understand why.
Godwin said he feels better now than he did even before surgery. He does his checkups with Cleveland Clinic over the phone. He also said that if Studley had been found at some point late in the process to be unable to except the kidney, Godwin still would’ve given it to someone else on the waiting list. “I was so invested at that point,” Godwin remembered. “That kidney was going.”
The two families got together for a reunion in August in Tawas, where they had lunch and walked the pier and the Godwins met Maizy for the first time. She doesn’t really get what’s transpired, but definitely notices Dad doesn’t have a tube coming out of his body at night anymore.
And it’s clear the two men value the connection they’ve made through this unlikely set of circumstances.
“His attitude has been inspiring,” Godwin said. “Because you’ve been through the mill (and) I’ve never heard a negative thing, ‘poor me’ or anything. And I think maybe that’s what helps keep you going.”
“You talk to people who know Dan, and they said, ‘That’s Dan. That’s what Dan does,’” Studley said, speaking of Godwin’s gift and then addressing him directly. “The hardest part for me, the biggest struggle … is there’s no way I’m going to ever be able to thank you for this.
“It’s like the post I posted yesterday on Facebook. I posted pictures of everything I had done in the last year, and a lot of it was stuff that I hadn’t done in a long time. My way to thank Dan is just living my life the best I can, enjoying my family. … For me, it’s changed my perspective.”
As lunch finished up, Godwin did have one ask in return – not for one of Studley’s organs, but to be part of a special moment that helped drive him to donate 12 months earlier.
“This isn’t the venue, but I’ve thought about this a lot. I’ve never asked for anything and I don’t want anything,” Godwin said, “but I would like to go to Maizy’s wedding.”
“Yeah, you … yes. Yes,” Studley replied. “You can go to anything you want to go to with my family.”
“I’d like to be there.”
“You will definitely be there.”
“I was at my daughter’s wedding,” Godwin said, noting again that connection between the men’s families, and the importance he felt in Studley being there for Maizy like he’d been there for his child.
“You say that, but there were times I didn’t know if I’d make it to Maizy’s wedding. I might not make it to see her graduate. So …” Studley trailed off, ready to take the next step in his life rejuvenated.
Studley emphasized the continuing need for kidney donors and refers anyone interested in learning more to the National Kidney Registry.
PHOTOS (Top) Alpena athletic director Jon Studley, left, and retired MHSAA game official Dan Godwin take a photo together on the shore of Lake Huron one year after Godwin donated a kidney to Studley. (2) Studley cheers on Alpena athletes during last season’s MHSAA Track & Field Finals at Rockford High School. (3) Godwin and Studley meet for the first time after the transplant, and again six months later. (4) Studley, his wife Shannon and daughter Maizy enjoy a moment after Jon had returned to good health. (Top photo by Geoff Kimmerly; other photos provided by Jon Studley.)