In Pittsburgh's pioneering days as a transplant center, Dr. Tom Starzl was a maestro in the operating room, making the music of life.

"Nothing short of perfection is good enough - there's more to do," he said.

But while surgeons and scientists are making huge progress in what can be done with the gift of life, organ donations lag far behind the need.

"There were 104,044 Americans waiting for a solid organ transplant," according to Holly Bulvony, of the Center for Organ Recovery and Education.

What is it that makes people afraid of becoming designated donors?

"Some of it is the fear of not wanting to think about their own death. Some of it is the fear of the unknown," says Bulvony.

"It absolutely changed my life - to be able to see from the inside the tension, the skill," Lee Gutkind, an author, said.

Gutkind's four-year journey with transplant teams fills the pages of his book "Many Sleepless Nights."

A meeting between a donor family and a heart-lung recipient captures the true meaning of organ donation.

The donor was a 12-year-old boy and the recipient was a mother of four and a school teacher.

"The donor's father got down on his knees and put his ear to the chest of the transplant recipient and listened to what he felt was the last time he would hear his son breathing," Gutkind said.

"They told me I had a year to live, under normal conditions, and the only thing that would save my life would be a heart transplant," Rudy Molnar, 71, said.

He knows what it's like living on borrowed time and has received two heart transplants - in 1989 and 2005.

Each extra day has meant seeing his children and grandchildren grow up.

"And you get up every morning - even if it's raining and you say, 'What a beautiful day it is out there - it's beautiful.' "

Ayone who might me interested in becoming an organ donor should contact the Center for Organ Recovery and Education at 1-800-DONORS-7.