Eric Hartley: Staying alive a real reason to celebrate

They're the kind of things everyone says: "Your health is what's really important." "Don't sweat the small stuff." "Don't take life for granted."

Friends and members of the same church in Severn, the two men both had organ transplants in 2004, a liver for Mr. Brown and a kidney and a pancreas for Mr. McClanahan.

On Tuesday evening, they joined about 300 other people for what looked like a typical holiday mixer. People sat around sipping out of plastic cups, eating hors d'oeuvres and sandwiches off tiny plates and catching up on kids and...