There are very few times in your life when you have the opportunity to connect your past to your future.

Twelve years ago, I remember showing up at the Transplant Games and everyone there thought they were some sort of an experiment. Can transplant recipients actually participate in sports and more importantly, should they? Granted, we were all green back then trying to figure out this thing called the U.S. Transplant Games. There were people running the 100 meters in jeans and tennis sneakers; there were people competing in the cycling event on Schwinns with bells and ribbons on the handlebars; and Carl Lewis' hair nearly was set afire by the torch that went awry.

Then there were the fantastic moments that told us that we were on the right track.

A gentleman from New Jersey threw a soft ball 300 feet, which would forever limit us in the future while canvassing possible Games sites to find areas that would accommodate this distance. "Clearly you are mistaken about that distance?", university athletic directors would say. "Don't you know that is more then the length of a football field?" Then we got a first glimpse of the entire "team" concept with Team Philadelphia walking into Opening Ceremonies like a cult of some kind, all adorned in team uniforms while the rest struggled to find someone, anyone, that resided in a state somewhere near where they lived. They, we all knew, had a job to do in the next two years.

And finally, perhaps the most poignant example that told us we had something truly spectacular on our hands was the first-ever public tribute by a transplant recipient to a donor family. This was not just good programming, it was the very beginning of what we would all come to recognize as the healing process.

How the Games have changed in twelve years and what a tremendous impact they have made on so many! However, the success cannot be solely measured by the celebrities that have been involved or by the number of media impressions garnered. Nor is it just about the success of transplantation or the importance of organ donation.

There is another story here that is not always easy to see but is equally as significant. It is the story about the athletes themselves. The true story of sport.

Most of us never get out of our chairs to break a sweat. Given the state of physical fitness of most Americans, it is almost unfathomable that there is an athletic event, multi-sport to boot, for individuals who have been near death and are on numerous medicines with serious side effects to keep them alive.

The true story behind the Games is the focus, commitment, dedication and humility that each athlete has had to face just to get here. And it is not just during the event, it is year round. It is the knowing that you will participate -- God willing -- in every Games, despite your fitness level which is tenuous at best depending on status of health. To these athletes, the goal is not just finishing and establishing PR's, it is making it back to be part of the Games. It is their two-year goal...every two years.

There is an unspoken promise that they have amongst themselves. And, despite all logic assigned to sport, they are just as hopeful, if not more so, to see the other athletes do as best they can even if it means being better than themselves -- redefining camaraderie.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of interviewing the members of the men's 4 x 100 relay team that won gold in Kobe, Japan at the World Transplant Games. This reporter is more than a little biased, having known this crew for many, many years. I know that their story doesn't stop at gold. Their story is one of growing older together through the Games and how these experiences have refined their lives and all of us that know and are inspired by them. It is a story of compassion for each other through personal crises, health concerns, life-style adjustments and all the other things that life throws our way. Through it all they have remained connected, focused and most of all dedicated to each other despite any circumstances. Their common bond is not just the obvious -- transplantation -- it is also sport. And in today's society where we idolize sports figures and revere them as celebrities because of their amazing accomplishments, we would be remiss if we did not regard this group in the same capacity. In my current endeavors, I interact with celebrity athletes on a regular basis. In my opinion, these athletes are as noteworthy if not more than any legend, Olympian or elite-level athlete that I have come across.

And although this might not be as obvious to them that we do regard them as such, there is not a day that goes by when I go out for a run, that I don't think about these athletes and ask them in my mind to carry me cross my own finish lines, to teach me their commitment and to show me how to find that perverseness within myself.

The Transplant Games has existed for 12 years. But that means more then coming together for 4 days every two years. It's even more then a vehicle that has promoted organ donation and transplantation for 12 years.