Transplant recipients put a lot of purpose into their holiday party: Margaret Bernstein
The Plain Dealer | Marilyn Bernstein
Photo: Ozetta Harris. Credit: Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer
On Sunday, I wrote about recovering addict Ozetta Harris, a liver transplant recipient who is determined to show God she's thankful for her second chance.
On Monday, someone who read the column hastily invited her to come to a party that same day at the Cleveland Clinic.
It was a roomful of Ozetta Harrises. All celebrating another year on this planet.
Here's something I now know. No one appreciates life like a transplant patient.
At this party, hosted annually by the Clinic for its liver transplant support group, sparkly holiday outfits don't really matter. There's not a lot of light chitchat.
It's all about what you managed to accomplish with the year you were just blessed to live through.
"It was a lot of grateful people in there," Harris marveled. Almost 100 attendees -- the biggest crowd ever -- shared a meal of chicken, rigatoni and vegetables while sharing stories about how they're giving back.
Group members get together quarterly for education and advice, "but at the holiday party, we just celebrate," said Annette Humberson, liver transplant social worker at the Clinic.
And Harris was an instant celebrity.
On Monday, someone who read the column hastily invited her to come to a party that same day at the Cleveland Clinic.
It was a roomful of Ozetta Harrises. All celebrating another year on this planet.
Here's something I now know. No one appreciates life like a transplant patient.
At this party, hosted annually by the Clinic for its liver transplant support group, sparkly holiday outfits don't really matter. There's not a lot of light chitchat.
It's all about what you managed to accomplish with the year you were just blessed to live through.
"It was a lot of grateful people in there," Harris marveled. Almost 100 attendees -- the biggest crowd ever -- shared a meal of chicken, rigatoni and vegetables while sharing stories about how they're giving back.
Group members get together quarterly for education and advice, "but at the holiday party, we just celebrate," said Annette Humberson, liver transplant social worker at the Clinic.
And Harris was an instant celebrity.
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