Farewell, Terri

Terri Schindler-Schiavo went to be with her Creator around 10 AM EST this morning. It was not a sudden passing. She died a horrifying, grisly death; two weeks of starving, an end involving a level of pain that called for the administering of morphine. For those of us involved in the fight for Terri’s life, it is perhaps as emotionally bereaving as the loss of a close friend. When I saw it this morning, I spent some time crying on my husband’s shoulder for a woman I had never met, and who didn’t even know I existed.

Many people list “dying alone” as their greatest fear; and yet, while Michael Schiavo denied Terri’s family the chance to be with their daughter as she passed away, we stood by as a nation condemning her to a fate we ourselves find collectively terrifying. Somehow, [and sheep-like], many Americans still managed to think he acted in her best interests. Terri was not a vegetable. She knew what was being done to her, and as evidenced by her trying to speak over and over in her own defense, she did not want it to happen. What kind of despair did she know in the final hours? What level of loneliness did she suffer? If she cried, she cried alone; with no one there to wipe her tears, or tell her it was going to be alright. Indeed, it would not be alright.

What does it say for us as a nation, that we can cheer the murder of an innocent, defenseless woman as a fulfillment of her “rights”? How harshly will we be judged by the One who gives and takes life?

Her family holds to the memory of her, and the hope that they will see her again in heaven. That is all they have. Meanwhile, Michael Schiavo has the money he won pretending to care for his wife. He is free to marry his live-in girlfriend. He has his book deal that’s in the works, which will allow him to ride the train of celebrity a bit longer, and get a few more bucks. And most importantly, his years of abusing Terri will go largely unaccounted for.

Today, Terri’s soul cries out for justice to be done. Today, evil rejoices. As the Psalm says, “How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant?”

Today, I am ashamed to be an American.

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