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By Linda Thomas
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
Christina Jones gave her daughter life — twice.
The first time came in the winter of 1973, when Jones gave birth, and again, 42 years later, when her daughter, Amy, needed a kidney.
“Amy is the love of my life,” said Jones, 66. “I couldn’t believe it when they told me I was a match. They say a lot of times, a mother isn’t a match. For me, I felt like the luckiest mother in the world.”
Amy, Jones’ only child, was born with tuberous sclerosis, a rare genetic disease that causes benign tumors to grow in the brain and on other vital organs. Symptoms include seizures, intellectual disability, developmental delay, behavioral problems, skin abnormalities and lung and kidney disease.
Luckily, Amy didn’t suffer with any of the symptoms associated with the disease growing up. As a baby, she had mild seizures that went away as she got older. Not until 2009, when Amy turned 35, did the disease begin to manifest in her kidneys. Infections slowly began to destroy her kidney function, and through routine blood tests in 2015, Jones said doctors indicated Amy would ultimately need a transplant.
In January 2016, Amy was placed on the transplant list, and the race began.
Once her daughter was on the list, Jones started testing as a possible donor. In August, she was told the good news that she was indeed a match to make the life-saving donation of a kidney for her daughter.
“I knew I was going to give her something… life,” Jones said.
The surgery, on Oct. 25, was a success. “It worked,” Jones said. “We’re both doing wonderful.”
Jones was in the hospital for two days while Amy remained there for three.
“I had my surgery on a Tuesday and on Wednesday I was down visiting Amy, walking down to her room,” Jones said, “Amy was walking around the second day. She wouldn’t even take painkillers.”
Amy was energetic before the surgery and even more so after. But Jones’ energy level fell after the surgery and doctors told her it might take up to six weeks for her to fully regain her strength — until her remaining kidney takes over.
The health crisis hasn’t stopped mother and daughter from living their lives. “It’s not keeping us in the house,” Jones said.
Though challenged with some special needs, Amy has led a pretty normal life, her mother said. In fact, she made the National Honor Society at her school in 1995. She is a very independent young lady who can live, work and drive on her own despite her learning disabilities. She works at Buddy Dog, a humane society, shelter and adoption center in Sudbury, a job her mother says she finds rewarding — and maybe her way of giving back.
It isn’t that Jones doesn’t have her share of challenges. But she copes. She always has. She was the middle child of seven, born in Roslindale and later moved with her family to Medfield as a freshman in high school.
In 1969, the year she graduated from Medfield High, she met the other love of her life, her future husband, Scott Jones — who refers to his wife as “Mother Teresa.”
“As a wife and mother, honestly, I can only describe her that way — Mother Teresa,” Scott said. “She’s the kindest and most thoughtful human being. There’s nothing pretentious about her. I’ve known her for nearly 50 years and I never heard her raise her voice.”
Jones hasn’t let her own health issues — she’s suffered from Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract, since she was 23 — stand in the way of living her life.
“I’m coping with it,” she said. “It’s never been a problem for me.”
As Amy grew up, Jones was pretty much a stay-at-home mom. She worked part-time at the old Decelle’s in Medfield center and, in 1988, when Amy was 14, took a job with the Medfield Public Schools, food services department. She spent the first two years as a baker at the Wheelock Elementary School before being promoted to kitchen manager at the Blake Middle School, where she’s been for the past 26 years.
The job was ideal. It was mother’s hours, with summers off and school vacations, making it easy for her to be back at home early enough to care for her family.
Jones works her heart out. Never missed a day of work except when she was out for the surgery. She loves her job. Loves the staff, the faculty and the students.
“We call her our monarch,” said Dawn LaVallee, director of food services for the Medfield School District, overseeing five schools and 16 staff members. “Chris has been around the longest,” LaVallee notes, “and she has an unbelievable work ethic. She’s here every day. She complains about nothing. And she’s a strong positive leader. You can count on Chris.”
And if a kitchen at another school needs something, Jones is the first to jump in and say, “OK, what can I do to help?”
Jones has a special place in her heart for the special needs students, giving them simple jobs — like filling the cooler with water bottles or putting plastic silverware into trays — to provide them with a purpose. The chores help teach them life skills and make them feel important.
“Chris has a really close connection with these children that come in,” said LaVallee, remembering one student who was with Jones all through middle school before moving to high school.
“I see that student once a week,” LaVallee said, “and every time I see her she still says to me, ‘I miss Miss Chris. How is Miss Chris? How is Miss Chris’ kitchen?’ She really made a difference to this student.”
The same dedication and devotion spills over to Jones’ personal life … making sure her daughter is happy and has everything she needs, including what she needed to live: a piece of her mother’s body.
“That’s just so amazing to me,” LaVallee said. “She’s my hero.”
Amy wasn’t available for this story, but Jones has shared a special moment shortly after the surgery.
It happened one day while the two were riding in the car.
“Amy looked up at me,” Jones said. “She gave me a smile and, out of the blue, said, ‘Thank you. Thank you for doing this for me.’ It was really sweet when it happened.”
This Thanksgiving was the best ever, said Jones, who will be forever thankful.
For Christina Jones, life is about giving.
“I gave my daughter a new kidney,” she said, “and a new chance at life.
“What more can I say.”
Editor’s Note: Linda Thomas writes for Hometown Weekly Publications. For comments and suggestions she can be reached at lindasfaces@gmail.com.
