Thank you for visiting the page of Alfreda Payne Morris. Your presence here is a demonstration of your love for our mother. Kidney disease took her from us and it is our goal to honor her and her wishes by providing a platform to promote awareness, educate others, encourage donations, and advocate for organ donation so other individuals and families impacted by kidney disease have the opportunity to live and have the best quality of life possible.

Our kidney story started 30 years ago. When we first learned of mom’s kidney failure, her nephrologist explained the options available to us at that time. Although one of her kidneys had fully failed, she had one healthy kidney. Thanks to the medical direction and advice of her doctor, implementation of a clearly defined “kidney friendly” nutritional plan, and limited medication, mom not only lived, she thrived. Her physician of 25 years, had a keen sense of needs, always adapting plans as needed which enabled her to enjoy the things in life that brought her pleasure such as crafting, knitting, playing cards, traveling and of course, hosting her famous parties.

Fast forward to 2016, mom experienced full renal failure and we were faced with a decision to make. As an 80 year old “seasoned saint,” a kidney transplant was not an option, however hemodialysis was. As a family we elected with committing to the treatment option, which required three treatment visits per week, each four hours. We all knew this would not be an easy journey and the challenges of this regimen were exacerbated by her age. However, we stood on an old family philosophy we’ve always lived by, ‘that nothing beats a failure but a try’. So with that, full of hope, we willingly and faithfully started our dialysis journey, fully knowing the obstacles we may face ahead.

Over the near 6 year dialysis journey, we experienced both some valley and mountaintop moments, neither we’d change and grateful for them because they were all part of the process to have her with us. When mom first received the diagnosis of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), despite our eternal optimism and positive outlook to things, we all knew it was probable the treatments would become too much to bear and a decision would have to be made. When we started the dialysis journey, we pinky-promised then with mom that if and when it ever reached a “no more’” moment along the way, we’d honor her wishes and support that decision as we have others. Seven surgeries later and numerous hospital stays, mom reached that point and said “no more”. She was tired and longed for eternal rest.

While we truly miss our beloved mother, Alfreda Payne Morris, we are heartened that her journey hopefully serves as support for others. Through awareness, education, and donations (financial and organ), we hope our efforts to honor our mother will also play a role in helping to eradicate kidney disease.

We are eternally grateful for the support we received from family and friends along this journey. We leave you with words of encouragement shared in the poem below as our hearts continue to grieve. But we rest in knowing that we know, we know, we know, she ran her race and fought the good fight, so she has absolutely earned her sweet rest in the arms of our Heavenly and Most Gracious Father.