If
anything good has
come from the
death of Terri
Schiavo, it's that more of us are making
living wills. I would
hope that everyone
would do so. I hate to think that in the
future, a spouse or
any person
will abuse another person to the point that they end up in the hospital
and because they didn't have a living will, their fate is left up to
the
abuser and they suffer the way Terri did.
Don't
be someone who doesn't speak out!
First they came
for the
Jews
and I did not
speak out
because I was not
a Jew.
Then they came for
the
Communists
and I did not
speak out
because I was not
a
Communist.
Then they came for
the
trade unionists
and I did not
speak out
because I was not
a
trade unionist.
Then they came for
me
and there was no
one left
to speak out for
me.
Pastor
Martin
Niemöller
Born
December 3, 1963, Theresa Marie Schindler was named after Saint Theresa
of Avila. Theresa grew
up in Pennsylvania as the eldest of three
children. Terri, as she was
called,
was
described as the shy
girl who never wanted to be in the
spotlight.
With a love
of animals she had a need to care for any
and all
lost animals
that she knew about.
Terri
attended and
graduated from a
Catholic school
and it wasn't until her teen years that she finally came out of her
shell. Though she could be naive at times, she
had a laugh that was contagious and a smile that never stopped shining
for those around her.
In 1982,
while
attending
college,
Terri met Michael
Schiavo and after a short time, the couple became engaged. On November
10, 1984, the couple married
and eventually moved to Florida. Terri
worked as an
insurance
claims clerk and Michael worked as a
restaurant manager.
Terri's parents moved to Florida a short
time
later.
On
February 25, 1990,
at
about
5:30am, Terri collapsed
in the hallway of the apartment she and
Michael lived
in. While Terri lay on the floor, suffering
from a
lack of oxygen, Michael called her parents
before
calling 911.
Terri was in a coma for about two and a
half months
and when
she did come out of the coma, she had suffered
brain damage.
Doctors
were not in
agreement on the
extent of damage done to Terri's brain.
Terri was given some
rehabilitation
and therapy and some doctors said that if
this continued
she would improve. Other doctors said it
was hopeless.
Terri's family didn't listen to them.
Michael
Schiavo stated
several times to several people that he
and
Terri had never
had a discussion about what she would have
wanted in
this type
of situation. Michael stated they were
both young
and had never had a discussion about this
type
of thing.
A lawsuit was filed on
behalf of
Terri, by her husband which claimed that
doctors had failed
to diagnose
her correctly. Michael Schiavo stated that
he needed
money to take care of Terri for the rest of
her
life, even
stating that she could live another 50
years or more. Shortly after winning the
lawsuit, which was said to have been $1,000,000,000.,
and receiving
money for himself and for Terri, Michael
Schiavo
decided
to stop all rehabilitation and therapy of
any kind
for Terri.
Since the court had appointed Michael as
Terri's
legal guardian,
there wasn't much anyone could do.
Terri's progress
was
halted
and she
was eventually
put on a feeding tube and no longer fed
from a
spoon.
It wasn't long before Michael Schiavo had
moved
on, he had
a new girlfriend and eventually would have
two children
by her. Instead of doing the right thing,
turning Terri's
care and guardianship over to her family, he
refused to
give up control over her, even to the
extent of banning
family and friends from seeing her and not
even
allowing so
much as a washcloth to be placed in her palm in order to stop her hands
from curling up. Terri's only form of
anything even
closely related
to life support was a feeding
tube. She
was not
on any machines to help her breathe or any
machines which
were meant to keep her alive by an artificial means. Terri's was
responding to family members, doctors
and staff
at the hospice where she was living.
Seven
years
passed by
and Michael
Schiavo "suddenly"
had a memory of Terri having said she would
not want
to live in this condition. He petitioned
the
courts to
have her feeding tube removed, the same
tube be put in. Telling the courts that
Terri and he
had talked about this and Terri had said
she
wouldn't like
to live that way, Michael was successful,
on two
occasions,
in getting the feeding tube taken out. The
tube
was put back
in when Terri's family went to court over
it.
Michael
Schiavo never
gave
up the
fight, never stopped saying that it was
Terri's wish not to
live this
way. Terri's family never gave up their fight to save their daughter
and
sister.
Many
motions were
filed in
an
attempt to save her
life. A subpoena for Terri to appear before
the
Senate
in Washington was sent out.
Senate
Majority
Leader Bill
Frist
had this to say:
"While discussions over possible
legislative
remedies continue, the Senate and the House
are taking action to keep her
alive in the interim."
In that same
statement
Frist said
the subpoena would
provide legal protections for Terri Schiavo.
"Federal
criminal law protects
witnesses called
before official Congressional committee
proceedings from anyone who may
obstruct or impede a witness’ attendance or testimony,"
he said
in the
statement. "More specifically, the law protects a witness from anyone
who
--
by threats, force, or by any threatening letter or communication
--influences,
obstructs,
or impedes an inquiry or investigation by Congress. Anyone
who
violates this law is
subject to criminal
fines and
imprisonment."
This
subpoena was
ignored
by Judge
Greer, who, over the telephone ordered the
feeding tube removed.
In spite of the continued fight to save her life, Terri's feeding tube
which was her only source of nutrition and hydration was removed on
March
18, 2005. On March 31, 2005, at about 9:05am,
as a result
of being denied nutrition and hydration for 13 days, Theresa Marie
Schindler/Schiavo
died.
We may
never know the
entire full
and true story
of what brought Terri to be in the
condition
she ended
up in for that 15 years of her life. One
thing is
painfully
obvious, Terri Schiavo was wronged by the courts and the man who had
promised
to take care of her for the rest of her life.
Terri is
no longer in
pain,
she's no
longer suffering.
Terri is with her maker, whole once again.
Forever young
and forever beautiful. Loved and missed by many, even those who never
met her. Unlike Michael Schiavo who is hated by many, loved by few and
will never be able to stand before God and justify what he did to
Terri. What I would say to him is that God knows his heart and God
knows what he did, he can't fool God like he did many people. God help
him and all of the people who helped him to kill his wife. Maybe they
will be forgiven, I believe they have to ask God to forgive them and
truly be sorry for that they did. I don't believe that Michael Schiavo
even knows what it means to be sorry for what he did. We can only hope
that his new wife was smart enough to get an advanced directive
made up and smart enough to make her wishes known to anyone who would
listen. I do have to wonder
though, since she is with him after
KNOWING what he was
doing and what he did, to Terri.
If you
have any
information
you
would like to add or
find that something I have said above is not correct or if you have a
picture of Terri or her family that I do
not have in the slide show above, please
let me
know.
When You Come
Back Down
You got to leave me now, you got to go alone
You got to chase a ream, one that's all your own
Before it slips away.
When you're flyin' high, take my heart along
I'll be the harmony to every lonely song
That you learn to play
When
you're soarin'
through the air
I'll
be your solid ground
Take
every chance you dare
I'll
still be there
When
you come back down
When
you come back down
I'll
keep lookin' up, awaitin' your return
My
greatest fear will be that you will crash and burn
And
I won't feel your fire
I'll
be the other hand that always holds the line
Connectin'
in between your sweet heart and mine
I'm
strung out on that wire
And
I'll be on the other end, To hear you when you call
Angel,
you were born to fly, If you get too high
I'll
catch you when you fall
I'll
catch you when you fall
Your
memory's the sunshine every new day brings
I
know the sky is calling
Angel,
let me help you with your wings
When
you're soarin' through the air
I'll
be your solid ground
Take
every chance you dare
I'll
still be there
When
you come back down
Take
every chance you dare,
I'll
still be there
When
you come back down
When
you come back down
Sung
By: Nickle Creek

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