I attended my first BMT reunion in 1978 attended by one patient who had undergone transplant for AML. In attendance at the three-bed nurses station were his donor brother, family members, three nurses who had cared for him, and three physicians, including Karl Blume who started the City of Hope program with guidance from Don Thomas and Ernie Beutler. We had a cake with one candle and he said that in his mind, it was a second birthday. He remained in remission for more than 35 years, and each year he treated the anniversary of transplant the same as the anniversary of his birth.