Terri's Story

Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation ^ | December 3,2006 | Schindler Foundation

[8mmMauser]

Theresa Marie Schindler was born to Robert and Mary Schindler on December 3, 1963. She was the first of three children the Schindlers would have.

Terri was a shy, but comical, child who had an affinity for music, animals and the arts. She kept a small circle of friends and was dear to schoolmates, neighboring families and her own extended family.

Following high school, Terri came into her own. She developed a knack for sketching and doodling. She enjoyed outings with her friends. She was an adoptive mother to the family’s dog, Bucky.

Terri attended Catholic School while growing up and remained close to her faith throughout her life.

In 1983, Terri met Michael Schiavo at Bucks County Community College and the two began dating. He was the first romantic interest Terri had.

The couple was engaged within a few months and married a year later at Terri’s church in Southampton, Pa. She was 21.

In 1986, Terri and Michael relocated to Pinellas County, Florida and her parents followed three months later.

In 1990, at the age of 26, Terri suffered a mysterious cardio-respiratory arrest for which no cause has ever been determined. She was diagnosed with hypoxic encephalopathy – neurological injury caused by lack of oxygen to the brain. Terri was placed on a ventilator, but was soon able to breathe on her own and maintain vital function. She remained in a severely compromised neurological state and was provided a PEG tube to ensure the safe delivery of nourishment and hydration.

On March 31, 2005, Terri Schindler Schiavo died of marked dehydration following more than 13 days without nutrition or hydration under the order of Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer of the Pinellas-Pasco’s Sixth Judicial Court. Terri was 41.

[Theodore R.]

Wouldn't it be shocking if it turned out that Senator Johnson has a "living will" which says "no feeding tube"? Bet it would cause Democrats to in that case ignore such a "living will" in the interest of "compassion" that was sorely lacking with poor Terri.

[T'wit]

>> I think the problem is that nearly all medical professionals really do care about life and truly have the best interests of the patient.

I'd like to believe you, but the "right to die" infection has spread far in the medical profession. The Hippocratic Oath has been junked. The guidelines it offered have been replaced by "bioethics," a polite term for killing unwanted patients.

Were it only a few twisted "death angels" in a largely pure profession, it would be up to the clean, honorable majority to police their own ranks and get rid of the rogues. This would be relatively easy if there were only a few bad eggs. Trouble is, the anti-life view is leaching into the mainstream. Things are getting worse, not better.

[wagglebee]

You are probably right and I may be overly optimistic.

What we need to be on guard for is subtle shifts in phraseology from the culture of death, because very soon "right to die" will become "obligation/duty to die" and whatever newspeak politically correct term for "worthless eater" will begin to be used.

Trouble is, the anti-life view is leaching into the mainstream.

I wonder how many people realize that when the death cult starts talking about "quality of life" that they desire to kill anyone who doesn't meet their "standards" of quality.

[BykrBayb]

Post #45 was an e-mail I sent to 8mmMauser. He was kind enough to post it for me while I was temporarily indisposed. I'm honored that you found value in it. Please, share it.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is available on DVD. There's nothing quite like seeing it in the theater, surrounded by strangers who are as wrapped up in it as you are, and being surrounded by the movie as though you're actually a part of it. But the DVD has the advantage of extra scenes, footage from a couple of the trials, interviews with people connected to The White Rose, etc. It would still be a bargain at twice the price.

[BykrBayb]

Bears repeating:

1133: A dem Senator is more equal than Terri Schiavo. Relatives from SD say that Tim Johnson is still under heavy sedation.

Tim Johnson either has nutrition via IV or has a feeding tube?

I'd like an explanation of the discrepancy here.

[T'wit]

>> There's nothing quite like seeing it in the theater

Would you please be good enough to share your experience, being part of a live audience watching Sophie Scholl in a regular theater? I took a stab at it above, from my wife's and my experience. We saw it in a Philadelphia cinema, on a free night on a business trip. At the time I didn't know the White Rose story, so it was "luck" that we chose this film among several that looked promising. Except I don't believe in that kind of luck! We watched engrossed... then just sat there stunned at the end. So did everyone in the audience. Nobody stood up. Nobody stirred at all -- not until the house lights went on.

But of course your experience would be far better told in your own words. I'd love to hear your impressions and feelings about the film. Perhaps rosalita and others would be interested too.

[petnurser]

I find this sad too. Your baby was born without any problems?

She is now four years old, quite a beauty and in perfect health!

[rosalita]

I cannot comment on what it was like to to see the film in a theater because I rented it and watched it alone at home.

What I can tell you is that the film had such a deep effect on me that I have been telling everyone about it since seeing it a month ago. As I stated in an earlier post, after the film ended and the credits rolled, I sat there stunned and immediately began to call friends to tell them about it. Every one of them said they could hear the conviction in my voice!

There are very few films that have had the effect on me the way this one has. A true story, her courage to stand and be counted encourages me to do the same.

But I also do not want to take away from the theme of this thread, which is for Terri Shiavo. I honestly believe that everyone who has posted here has likewise been an encouragement to me, like Sophie was, to be a better witness to the things that I so strongly believe in. And I also think that the cause is just as important; the need for a voice just as great! So I commend all of you again for the inspiration!

[8mmMauser]

But I also do not want to take away from the theme of this thread, which is for Terri Shiavo......

You are keeping very much on the theme as this topic is so deeply rooted we have adopted its symbol as that for Terri.

8mm

[bjs1779]

So I commend all of you again for the inspiration!

To think that not killing innocent people in this country is an "inspiration", stuns me.

[T'wit]

>> I also do not want to take away from the theme of this thread, which is for Terri Shiavo.

That's not a conflict. Sophie Scholl has become a patron saint for Terri threads. She and Terri had much in common. In fact, we like to think that Sophie and Terri are great friends now, in a kinder world. Maybe both are cheering us on :-)

Sophie's defiant reply to her Nazi judges was, you'll be the next ones on trial and your heads will roll. She was right. Sophie herself is remembered with the greatest honor today in Germany. As I understand it, more than one hundred schools are named for her.

Terri Schiavo's story, like Sophie's, will be remembered long after we are all passed on. So in her way, Terri will go on bearing witness to the evil that stole her life. We are here to learn all we can -- let me remind you that her so-called "collapse" is an unsolved mystery -- and to tell Terri's story. We're delighted by your interest.

[T'wit]

>> To think that not killing innocent people in this country is an "inspiration", stuns me.

We have certainly come down a long way! Questions like these never entered our minds, when I was... a lot... younger :-) Loss of respect for life is a natural complement to the growth of socialism, and to the spread of philosophies that do not see us as precious children of God, but merely as valueless creatures risen from the muck.

But let us count our blessings. We have souls that can be lifted and inspired. The euthanazis can't take that away from us. The outpouring of support and affection for Terri and for the Schindlers has been heart-warming.

[T'wit]

>> She is now four years old, quite a beauty

Uh, oh, sounds like she'll be breaking Freeper hearts pretty darn soon :-)

[BykrBayb]

My husband and I had planned to go see Sophie Scholl together, but by the time I discovered it was showing at a theater just a couple hours from our house, there were only a couple days left. Hubby had to work, so I went alone.

At first I felt strange, going to a movie alone. I've never done that before. But I soon discovered I wasn't the only one. There were single people, couples, and a few small groups.

From the moment the movie started, everyone was engrossed. There wasn't a peep from the audience, except the occasional sniffle, and one gasp from all of us.

Almost immediately, I became oblivious to the fact that I was in a room full of strangers. They ceased to exist, until the end of the movie. Thank goodness I'd been warned to bring plenty of tissues. When the lights came on, I remembered there were other people around, and became embarrassed to be seen crying. But I soon realized, nobody noticed me. They were all crying too. Including the men. Well, even if I'm in a good mood, the sound of a man crying will set me to crying. So naturally, I cried all the more.

We all sat through the credits, trying to compose ourselves before going out into the daylight. As we shuffled out, still nobody spoke. People arriving in the lobby were chatting away, but we all wandered silently into the restrooms to wash our faces, then wandered silently toward our cars.

I had promised my husband I'd call him when I left. So I called and told him I was on my way home. He must have noticed the change in me, because he asked if I was okay. I told him I was, but I just didn't feel like talking. I sat in the parking lot for quite a while before I was able to drive.

Sophie Scholl (the movie and the woman) became a big part of me that day.

[T'wit]

Thank you! Your words are so moving I'm not going to say a thing except that my eyes mist over to read them.

[8mmMauser]

This ought to be really something!!

............................

According to Bailiwick, "In these two companion performance pieces, artist Karen Finley brilliantly explores the state of our union. In The Dreams of Laura Bush, Finley creates an illustrated dream journal of America's First Lady. And in The Passion of Terri Schiavo, Finley's live action ink drawing becomes the abstracted soul projection of a culture obsessed with saving a life."

In Laura Bush, "Finley performs the narrative of Mrs. Bush as she dreams with a cast of international celebs and politicians such as Tony Blair and Goldie Hawn as she creates dream drawings projected as a backdrop."

In Terri Schiavo, "a live action ink painting becomes the abstracted soul projection of an American Culture obsessed with saving Terri. Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who suffered a brain trauma...and became an icon for the right to die (and to be kept alive) when her husband sued in order to allow her to die and not be kept alive by a feeding tube, and her parents counter sued to keep her body alive. This case became a national narrative of a country obsessed with one woman's life yet at the same time at war. In this work the narrative takes the voice from different oppositional positions. Both pro and con, family, stranger and society at large."

Karen Finley's Laura Bush/Terri Schiavo Makes Chicago Debut Jan. 3

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[8mmMauser]

Ana-Alicia Fernandez

............................

Six of Ana-Alicia Fernandez's kindergarten friends came to her 18th birthday party Monday, spending New Year's Day as they always have in the 12 years since the accident.

Snip...

"This could have happened to any of us,'' said Patty Wollberg, 18, now a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. Ana-Alicia remains a child frozen in time. She nearly drowned when she was 6. A drunken boater triggered a collision that hurtled the little girl from her mother's arms, knocking her unconscious. Rescuers found her face-down in the water, her brain starved of oxygen.

Ana-Alicia has since remained locked in a world of her own, much like Terri Schiavo once was.

Snip...

She can't speak or walk; her eyes often appear blank, but her mother insists she uses them to communicate. She has grown to just over 4 feet tall and still wears pigtails.

At her parents' Coral Gables home, her maternal grandmother, a nurse and the hum of a respirator are her other constant companions. She spends her days reclined in a special chair in the Florida room, with the television tuned to the Cartoon Network.

''Doctors kept saying she wouldn't make it through the night, then the day, then the week,'' her father, Rogelio, said proudly. ``Look now . . . here she is.''

The Fernandezes consider themselves lucky.

A bittersweet reunion... Stricken girl's 18th birthday brightened by long-ago classmates

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[8mmMauser]

Another book review of Attorney Gibbs...

"I want to live". It's a simple saying, but it embodies the hopes, fears, dreams, and very vitality of us all. Many of us take our lives for granted. How many people watched the ball drop and made a new year's resolution to live? Of course not. We know we can't control that. Instead, we'll promise ourselves that we'll eat fewer twinkies and only drink light beer. However, as we celebrated the dropping of the ball in New York City, we should mourn the dropping of another. One incredible woman, who's story gripped our nation, won't be here to determine what her new year's resolution will be. We held her life in our hands...and we dropped the ball.

"Fighting for Dear Life", by Attorney David Gibbs, details the heartbreaking battle to save the life of Terri Schiavo. Gibbs, who represented Bob and Mary Schindler (Terri's parents), exhausted all legal avenues to preserve Terri's life. He became very close with the Schindler family, but he also became close with Terri. When he agreed to represent the Schindler family, and met Terri for the first time in 2004, Gibbs claims that he expected a much different scene than the one that unfolded before him. He was brought into Terri's room, expecting to see tubes and monitors hooked to an almost lifeless body, but instead he was greeted by a smiling, "peachy" girl sitting in a chair by the window...without tubes or monitors, and seemingly full of life.

Fighting for Dear Life

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[8mmMauser]

Amazingly enough (to me anyway...) the left is back at it, struggling to battle with the spirit of Terri. I thought maybe they tired of it, but no, here they are, still, projecting their own fears once again.

This time it is Paul Abrams puffing away at Puffington Host.

Applying "Ockam's Razor", (when there are competing explanations, choose the simplest that ties it all together), the only answer that explains why they invaded, and why they mismanaged, is "(E) None of the Above". Rather, it is all consistent with the one goal they have ruthlessly and relentlessly pursued: domestic political power. Despite all their cheery rhetoric of the electorate moving rightward, they took 2 Presidential elections under very questionable circumstances, and barely; they improved their Congressional majorities in '04 only by the DeLay Texas gerrymander; and, the people of the country revolted when they tried to eliminate key social programs and despoiled Terry Schiavo's dignity. Iraq was seen as an opportunity to swell their ranks, and then force their philosophy down the throats of the smiling American people who would not know what was happening to them because they would wrap their initiatives in Orwellian language ("Saving Social Security", "Strengthening Medicare", "Clear Skies", "Healthy Forests").

Iraq: Why We Went, Why We Screwed Up, and Why It Matters Now

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[8mmMauser]

The left continues with their intended misreadings bashing Jeb in their own way...

It will be difficult for the public to forget his disgraceful performance in the Terri Schiavo case, just one of a number of legal battles in which the American Civil Liberties Union engaged the Jeb Bush administration stemming from the former governor's posture that public policy "should err on the side of life." (Until the recent botched execution, this selective commitment never led him to question Florida's distinction of having the highest number of inmates released from Death Row due to exoneration or prosecutorial misconduct.) Jeb Bush was the most effective defender of the indefensible status quo.

Jeb Bush legacy: Unflattering view

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