Just Wondering Out Loud

There is no one who can predict the extent of disability, nor the extent of recovery for any individual who is disabled. No one. But each disabled person is a child of God, with dignity simply because they are alive. The difference in how the disabled person is accepted and included is what makes all the difference in the lives of the disabled--but more--in the lives of those who truly love and care for that person.

Doctors have been wrong many times in their predictions of the extent of brain damage, and many who have been diagnosed as PVS have demonstrated that fact. Some do not improve, but others gain back some ability. That makes no difference. The fact that they are human beings is what matters. Disabled, regardless of the type of disability, does not mean that there is no value to their lives.

Brain damage, regardless of when it occurs, is often given a much poorer prognosis. Many parents have been told that their child would never sit, stand, walk, talk.


Gianna Jessen's foster mother was told that when she brought young Gianna into her home. Today, Gianna not only sits, stands, walks, talks, but she also SINGS and RUNS MARATHONS. She not only talks, but she speaks in front of Congress, State Gov'ts, and crowds of people.

And she is beautiful. There are times that she loses her balance due to the disability, but she picks herself up and goes right on... doing Gianna's things.







Dick Hoyt and his wife were also told the same about their son, Rick. Today, Rick does not speak as we do, but through the use of a computer. He does not walk as we do, but gets around in his Wheel Chair, propelled by his Dad, family and friends. He does not do sports as most do, but with his Dad as his legs, he has run Marathons, done Triathalons, Iron Man, and crossed the country on a bicycle. He cannot do many things that we can do, but HE has a degree from Boston College, and is working.





His family would not be where they are today without Rick. His Dad credits (or teasingly blames) Rick for the fact that he is in the best shape of his life after learning to run, ride bike again, and swim, just to help his own son compete in sports in the only way he can.








Terri Schindler Schiavo's family (Mom, Dad, Brother and Sister) wanted to give Terri a life also, but were not allowed to take her outside for at least the last five years or so of her life. They wanted her to have Speech therapy, and any other kinds of therapy they could get for her. They talked openly of taking her to the Mall, doing things with her.

Michael would not allow it.


Dick Hoyt, in one of the videos I have placed on my blog tonight, spoke openly about how he could see his son's awareness through the look in his eyes; the Schindler family found that same spark in Terri's, as did many of her caregivers. She WAS at one time speaking a few words, she did smile, she did track enough to follow a balloon. Those who do not want to see this simply do not want to see that her family loved her regardless.

In the long article, Dick Hoyt spoke of the difficulty some have when they eat out, because of Rick's disability. That same difficulty is what killed Terri. It was not 'love' that starved and dehydrated her to death, by someone who had left her long before for at least three other women, finally living with the last one and fathering two children while mouthing the words 'love', 'vows', 'promise'....



So why do we celebrate Rick Hoyt's life, all the while clammering for Terri's death ('freedom')?

Terri was brain-damaged, but she was alive, and her family who loved her would have loved to have had that wheel chair to push so that they could take her out publically. That is love, unconditional.

The other?

Locking her in a darkened room and demanding her tube to be removed while refusing even a tiny fragment of the Eucharist by mouth, and even a drop of water is not love. Starving/dehydrating a human being to death is simply NOT .... human.

God bless!