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MAYBE YOU HEARD THIS ONE ~ Marie tried. Several times… But she just couldn’t… couldn’t leave him. Mike was so charming, warm, giving when they met. He swooped her plumb off her feet! At 20 he asked her to marry, and she was thrilled. After several years however – it wasn’t going so well. He constantly berated her, checked the odometer for how many miles she drove, relentlessly questioned her.(Later, it was found he stalked a previous girlfriend…) Surely things would get better if she was more loving, giving, did exactly what he asked. When he kept losing jobs, she automatically would take up the slack – cut back on items for the house, not buy clothes for herself so he could look great. She loved him but what could she do? She felt she was trapped. How could she disappoint her family… How could she possibly endure his rage if she tried to leave? Perhaps he would seek retribution on her cats or worse, her family… Co-workers noticed the bruising and “pinch marks”, though she tried to hide them. Jackie, her best friend, confronted her about it – as best friends should do – and Marie struggled to explain. Later, Jackie told the family that Marie confided that she and Mike had a huge fight and Jackie suggested that Marie come and stay. But Marie didn’t want to cause trouble. That decision of Marie’s ultimately cost her life, though she would suffer in almost complete silence for a number of years before she finally died. How familiar does this sound? We constantly hear tales of battered women’s plight in our society, women that suffer in silence. Women from good homes, with often little outer sign of trouble… “A smile to hide the tears” as the song goes. So why don’t we, as a society, as friends, as family members, help women like Marie? Do we just not know? Can we turn a blind eye and say it doesn’t affect me? Later it would be discovered through medical records sealed for years and finally opened, that Marie had fractured both hip joints, cracked or broken multiple ribs on both sides, both knees, the upper part of her right leg, her right and possibly her left ankle and several vertebrae – yet she clung to life, desperate to tell her story, perhaps hoping to save someone else from this injustice. After she was found unconscious in the hallway of their home and taken to the emergency room, Mike’s lawyer arrived even before Marie’s family did. Interestingly, Mike never performed CPR on her, though he had just completed the training. After several court cases, therapies were begun, only to be stopped repeatedly. Written records of her progress by her therapists (such as eating jello and purposeful interaction) were expunged from her files before the next business day. But Marie hung on. If she could just hang on long enough to tell her side of the story. But Mike still controlled. He wasn’t about to let that happen… This true story is ripe for a “John Grisham” to develop into a full-blown detective tale for the wide-screen. And like a good story or movie, you might think you know where the author is taking you or how things will turn out. The fun of a good story well told is that the writer continues to surprise you - to keep you turning the pages long after the light should be turned off. In this case however there is no fun involved, for you already know who I’m talking about, though probably not by that name. This is Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo’s story – Terri Schiavo. Surprised? Then examine extensive research presented in Our Fight4Terri by Cheryl Ford, RN and Dr. JE Craddock. ISBN 1-4120-6140-7. Available from www.fight4terri.com . Peruse copies of actual court records and eyewitness accounts (related under oath), read data from medical professionals and other expert witnesses – all telling a much different story than the one most of us heard. Read the explicit and conclusive scenario developed with the assistance of world-renowned medical and legal forensic experts as the only plausible cause for Terri's condition and injuries. Read the truth about her medical condition and her potential for rehabilitation according to numerous medical experts, including those representing the court review system in Florida's Department of Health. So – one wonders… How much of this is going on in our country right now? In January, 2006 the news told of 19 workers in a hospice arrested for misuse of funds, neglect and abuse of patients. How many more? Read Our Fight4Terri to find out how to help the disabled amongst us who are at the mercy of unscrupulous characters. The frightening thing is –any of us might fit that description at one time or another – unless we as a country do something about it. © 2006 KC Frantzen Permission granted and encouraged to redistribute if in its entirety with proper attribution.
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