Photo by John F. Martin

October 9, 2002. Dad's 56th birthday. We are in Antrim Park in Columbus, Ohio, being interviewed for a story on WBNS-TV. Sports reporter Ryan Miller and photographer Drew Yaussy (above) met us at the park to shoot Dad running and talk to us about our experience and the upcoming Columbus Marathon Dad will be running. "Giving up a kidney is easy," Dad said, "running 26 miles is a lot more difficult." My favorite sound bite? With good health, anything is possible. Do you have to run marathons to give up a kidney? Of course not. But good luck finding a surgeon willing to carve a kidney from an obese, alcoholic, chain-smoking couch potato.

Ryan asked me if I started taking better care of myself after the surgery. "I run when chased," I joked. He brings up a good point, though. Like I mentioned before, a donor has to be in excellent shape to give up a kidney. And in order to keep it, the recipient must take care of themselves also. It would be an awful waste to lose a kidney because it was treated poorly. This means watching your blood pressure, eating well and of course, taking the drugs. My dad is good guy, but I don't think he'd hesitate writing me out of the Will if I screwed this up.