James R. Downs ’72 writes from Bristol, R.I., with this story of how he met Irene Helen Breault  ’72, and what has happened since:

“Met my wife, Renie, in animal ecology lab in 1970. She was hidden by a large jar of preserved eels and the graduate assistant couldn’t see her when he called roll. So I stood up on my stool and indicated her presence to the prof.

“She went for my John Denver look and my fisherman knit sweater, once she figured out I wasn’t a complete jerk. We used to play two-on-two basketball for six-packs until word got around that she could really play. We tied the knot the September after graduation.

“I have polycystic kidney disease, a condition inherited from my mother, which gradually squeezes out good kidney tissue with fluid-filled cysts. I retired in June 2013 knowing I was facing dialysis within a year, or, with luck, a transplant within a few years.

“That fall, I went to the Mass General Transplant Team. We knew that Renie was the same blood type, but the chances of her being a match were 14,000 to one; plus, donors over a certain mature age are usually not considered.

“Nevertheless, she started her evaluation. After each test, it became clear that not only was she a healthy donor, but she was as close to a perfect match as you can get. We had the surgery on March 11, and three days later, my kidney function was normal for the first time in 14 years.

“Our 42nd anniversary was yesterday, and we celebrated with chowder, clam cakes, and fish and chips. We play golf four days a week, and Renie is a huge gardener, being a master gardener from URI’s program. Life is good when you’ve found your perfect match.”