White Rose 
Posted on 03/14/2006 11:28:51 AM PST by KevinNuPac
Terri's Day challenges the nation to unify
Kevin Fobbs
March 13, 2006
Terri's Day — A Celebration of the Culture of Life honoring Terri Schiavo with a day of remembrance challenges each and every one of us to stop for a moment and ask ourselves a question, do we respect ourselves, our families, our lives?
And if we are faced with the question of the possible certainty of death, does anyone truly know, or even have the faintest clue about, our wishes? That is the greatest good, the greatest legacy that Terri Schiavo's death and an annual "Terri's Day" can bring to our lives and to the celebration of the Culture of Life.
On March 18th, we as a nation will begin to grieve again, to reach into our hearts and feel with our collective national spirit what the Schindler family felt last year at this time as each moment since Terri was disconnected from the feeding lifeline, the moments crept by like hours and hours like days.
All of us have felt in some way that pain — even if it were only in the privacy of our loved one's home, hospital room, hospice or perhaps talking with an attorney and doctor attempting to make sense out of some fleeting comments made in a conversation perhaps voiced ten, twelve or even two decades earlier — not necessarily an expression of her true feeling about an end-of-life decision but merely an incidental musing in a long-forgotten side conversation.
For at least one million Americans, and quite possibly a whole lot more, this is an opportunity to voice an opinion through a pledge supporting a resolution in each state called "Terri's Day — A Celebration of the Culture of Life." Each and every person who cares that your family, your spouse, your mother, your father, your sister or brother understands with clarity what you wish the end of life for you to be, with dignity and certainty should sign the online pledge at www.kevinfobbs.com and take the additional step to sign a Living Will — or as they call it at www.terrisfight.org, the Will to Live.
Some have asked why Americans should care about an annual Terri's Day. It is quite simple, we tend to keep turning the page on the Culture of Life because we feel it does not affect us. We tend to believe that seemingly universal belief that those who are handicapped, those who are not quite living a "perfect" life or by contemporary notion "ideal" then those lives are possibly disposable, marginal, not relevant, and part of the Culture of Death which embraces a "disposable society."
But life and our values for the Culture of Life are not disposable. Think about the young people today who would rather hurt themselves or even take their own lives rather than feel "imperfect" or the elderly person whose family is told by an insensitive health care professional while the stricken person struggles to cling to life, "she would be better off in another place," — just let her die, disconnect her from life, because her quality of life is not up to "contemporary standards. "
Why does celebrating the Culture of Life in Michigan become so essential for all of us in America? It is important for several reasons. Dr. Jack Kervorkian, also known as "Doctor Death" helped launch first in Michigan and then the nation the notion of the death culture. Secondly, and equally as important, at the May 12 event — just two days before Mother's Day — there will also be a "Mary's Moms" celebration of those women and mothers who have met challenges in standing up for some aspect of the Culture of Life.
This past weekend I sat at my cousin's funeral — or going home celebration, which more accurately describes it — thinking about the dearly departed and how she packed so much caring for others into her life even as she struggled with illness and advancing age. She was a wonderful woman who had lived through many, many challenges in her life, but in her 73 years she had met these challenges with dignity and had conveyed to her family when would be the right time to allow her to pass away.
Her daughter, who is a minister, spoke to the packed church about the times when, with all of her pain and then a stroke, the doctors had informed them that perhaps it was better to let her go. Yet that was three years ago that that occurred, and if the family had listened to the doctors and refused to see how she fought back and not only recovered but went back to volunteering at the church to feed and clothe the homeless. The medical professionals didn't care about an elderly lady who was on dialysis, but the family did and they knew better. Patricia lived three more years — years her extensive extended family considered "a gift from God."
So isn't part of the lesson of Terri's legacy and Terri's Day for families and loved ones to have a meaningful conversation with their family and to have the written document on hand as well that conveys the wishes clearly and concisely? You betcha.
As I sat in the church I thought of all of the families across the nation and the world who were sitting at their loved one's bedsides — or even standing outside of a hospital emergency room — overwhelmed with emotion, torn by what may be days of conflicting anguished decisions. I thought again of how out of death we may have the certainty of life. Terri's death reminded the nation that yes a state can and will starve you to death, and your family may be rendered helpless as you watch your loved one's precious life forces drain slowly away.
By signing the online pledge at www.kevinfobbs.com or going to www.terrisfight.org, you can learn about how to encourage your state legislature to establish March 31st as an official Terri's Day. Hold a Culture of Life Home Party or meet-and-greet to sign pledges, share ideas and support The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation as well as Culture of Life activities and events in your community or around the nation. Between now and March 31st you can make a dramatic difference for yourself, your family and for the nation. Stand up for the Culture of Life because one person, one life, one family can and does make a difference in America. Make the difference and be the difference today. America...The countdown for the Culture of Life has begun.
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Kevin Fobbs is President of National Urban Policy Action Council (NuPac), a non-partisan civic and citizen-action organization that focuses on taking the politics out of policy to secure urban America's future one neighborhood, one city, and one person at a time. View NuPac on the web at www.nupac.info. Kevin Fobbs is a regular contributing columnist for the Detroit News. He is also the daily host of The Kevin Fobbs Show on News Talk WDTK - 1400 AM in Detroit. Listen to The Kevin Fobbs Show online at www.wdtkam.com daily 2-3 p.m., and call in toll-free nationwide to make your opinion count at 800-923-WDTK(9385) © Copyright 2006 by Kevin Fobbs http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/fobbs/060313
The case appears to have had a profound effect on attitudes about preparing for the end of life.
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This the third post in a four part series containing the full-text of a speech given by Bobby Schindler to an audience in Phoenix, AZ sponsored by Arizona Right to Life. These details and much more can be read by simply ordering a copy A Life that Matters.
Part I - Terri Schiavo's Life and Death
Part II - Terri Schiavo and the Culture of Death Movement
Legalized Killing: The PVS Diagnosis
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They said the poor dog suffered immeasurable pain. How could that be? Dehydration is fun, sez Mikey.
Laws reshaping end-of-life policy were floated in two dozen states but only Louisiana passed any kind of law -- and the final result was severely watered down compared to the initial proposal.
State Legislatures Haven't Protected Patients Since Terri Schiavo Died
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Here is another account of the profile of a sociopath, heavily covered in this morning's media.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Michael Schiavo had decided at the last minute to give up his fight to remove his brain-damaged wife's feeding tube, but his attorney persuaded him not to, Schiavo says in a new book.
Michael Schiavo: I had decided to give up fight
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The article expresses surprise that people are taking far more interest in "end-of-life" decisions in the wake of Terri Schiavo's death. The real lesson here is that people realized Terri was put to death at Michael's wish, not her own. They are trying now to protect against that same horror for themselves.
DeLay Says Justices 'Don't Get' Criticism
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Terri's Legacy
The surge rose late and continued like a tsunami rather than just a wave coming and leaving. They must be surprised because they can't imagine their pal as someone unsavory.
It is another example of the unexpected consequences of the travesty against Terri resulting in a greater public awareness.
And just what argument could Michael's lawyer used to change his mind and persuade him to go ahead and kill his wife? Oh, yeah, there is one. "Listen to me, Mikey. She could still get better and put the finger on you for trying to strangle her."
Even listening to Mikey is enough to give ME an immeasurable pain.
Smith has written about what he sees as the dangers of bioethics. His presentation tonight is "Bioethics: Creating a Disposable Caste of People?"
Pro-life group at W&M to host bioethics talk
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White Rose
Well, telling Jodi he's going to visit Terri's grave gives him an excuse to get out of the house too.
If Jodi ever uses the divorce word on him she'll find out what's he's capable of.
Oh, now, you're beginning to sound like a kook! Everybody KNOWS Mikey received heaps of money for Terri's care and therapy. Mikey wouldn't even have a choice about it, WOULD HE? That money was earmarked by the jury in a court of law for Terri's rehab. OF COURSE he hired therapists to teach her how to speak and walk and use her hands again. A girl like Terri loves to dance and sit in the sun and play with her cats. Mikey knew that. He was a wonderful, caring husband.
</extreme sarcasm>
Wives love being second-best to hubby's dead spouse.
It won't leave marks on her body, either.
We will not be silenced. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no peace.
Oh I thought your comment was funny. I just tend to overthink some things. I think Katie is in need of one of those people that do reverse brainwashing.
Keeping quiet? Hell, I sounded like Howard Dean during my deliveries. The last one at least they gave me pain medication.
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