[ksgross64]

Thank you for your reply, let me try to answer some of your questions.When I requested and aisle/exit seat, I was told by customer service only that it couldn't be done. I was given no explaination about why it couldn't be done.
I became flippant with the manager out of frustration, which was probably wrong on my part. I, at that point, couldn't believe that Delta could do nothing to assist in this situation. I had always heard, I had no personal experience in these situations, that some discount/financial assistance was given to people traveling for a funeral, medical problems, etc. and I was surprised that no kind of assistance was available. I became frustrated that no attempt was made by the customer service people and was hoping to be directed to someone else. You mentioned "a very minor request" about the seat change. To the customer service agent, it may have seemed minor, but to me, after my cousin had given a body part for me to live a better life, it wasn't a "minor" request.
I was okay with using skymiles because I wanted my cousin to be comfortable and I saw that this was the only way it was going to be accomplished, because, obviously Delta wasn't going to assist in any way. I wasn't asking for a "free ride". I didn't expect a free ticket, but a discount or an upgrade to an available first class seat, I didn't feel was that much of an out of the way request.
My cousin and I are doing well, and she safely made it back to Washington. After this process, I have learned the importance of organ donation first hand. I believe that maybe people would be more encouraged to do something like this if companies, not only airlines, could try to assist in any way to make the process easier for people who are considering organ donation. Thanks for you comments.