Be thankful.

Today I interviewed:

• A man who is alive because he received an organ transplant five years ago. Until his new lung, he was living on oxygen for four years, 24 hours a day. When he was being wheeled into the operating room the first time, the transplant was canceled because the organ was damaged. He waited a year and a half more before he got a second phone call that there was a lung waiting for him. It came from a 19-year-old girl who died in a car crash.

• A 23-year-old woman who is in her second week of a five-week treatment of radiation. She found the mass in her chest in February. She was diagnosed with cancer in March. She finished her chemotherapy in July. After her radiation, she'll find out if she's cancer-free.

• A mother who lost her 25-year-old son in an accident one year ago. She and her family decided to donate his organs. His kidneys saved the lives of a 2-year-old and 12-year-old. His heart went to a 30-year-old. His liver went to a 51-year-old. Just this week the liver recipient's wife wrote a letter thanking this mother for choosing to donate her son's organs. It gave her husband another chance at life.

Be thankful. Be thankful for every day, every moment and every breath.