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A few months after my 2016 heart attack, Shady Grove Medical Center, the hospital that saved my life, reached out with a request for support. Their appeal resonated with Fern and me, and we responded with a gift.

It felt good to give. It was our way of saying thank you to the facility and team who prevented my “widowmaker” heart attack from making my wife a widow.

Not long after I retired, I felt called to do more. I joined the hospital foundation’s Board of Trustees, giving not only financially but also of my time. Each year, Fern and I increased our support, attended hospital and foundation events, and deepened our connection to the community. Along the way, I discovered something unexpected: giving back was healing. It became part of my recovery, a source of strength and purpose.

One year, the foundation’s director shared that the cardiac care team wanted new state-of-the-art equipment that wasn’t in the hospital’s budget. The technology, once used to shatter kidney stones, could now break apart heart plaque. Fern and I made a special gift to the hospital to enable it to purchase the device. What a feeling, to know we were helping save lives!

Earlier this year, Fern and I made what Shady Grove calls a transformative gift, supporting the hospital’s new Heart and Stroke Catheterization Lab. The Larry and Fern Bensignor Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology Lab will save the lives of patients experiencing heart attacks and strokes. Since making that gift, I’ve been walking with an extra spring in my step.

Each year on Doctors’ Day, I write to Dr. Rajeev Patel, the interventional cardiologist who saved my life. I thank him and share what’s new in my world. Gratitude, expressed through words, actions, and giving, uplifts not only the recipient but also the giver.

Giving truly does the heart good.