Our hearts go out to the parents of Terri (Theresa Marie Schindler) Schiavo. There is so much controversy surrounding the death of this woman and so much public outcry for the way she was taken from this earth.

 

   I personally believe that after all these years of battling over her life, the amount of time she was on this earth was for a purpose. We may never know what that purpose is and I am saddened that her parents had little to say about her, as they were the ones who gave her life and breath.

 

   I don't understand why her parents were refused her body after her death. In my heart and mind there is something terribly cruel about this to me. What difference does it make if in the end the parents of this child had the desire to have a say in where and how she was buried. It is unconscionable to me that someone could do something like this without a thought to how difficult this must be for her parents and relatives. I also read that her body will be buried in an undisclosed location in Pennsylvania. How despicable that is to me and what a great blow to her parents. No one should have that kind of power for the flesh and blood of their own child.

 

   I firmly believe in a "living will" and if Terri's wishes were written as they should have been then I would not for one minute deny her wishes. However, for all these years of talk of "her wishes" made by her husband, there was no viable proof of this. Living wills are directives that I believe should be written in stone, just as the Commandments where and this, I believe, should have the same importance. We should all make sure that our wishes are written giving the proxy to people who we absolutely trust.

 

   I don't know what "constant vegetative state means" who knows what really is going on in the mind except for the person who is living within the body that is defined this way. I felt that starving her was a cruel way to take away life. Had Terri had a respirator for all these years and the decision to shut the machine off would have made her leave this life, I probably could reconcile with that. To deliberately deny food and water to me is cruel and inhumane. How could her Mother and Father, sister and brother and friends not feel an overwhelming sadness to watch their child whither away right in front of their eyes and in the last moments of death not be able to be around her bed because of  Mr. Schiavo's decision was cruel and unusual punishment to the family of Terri and a distinctive "power play" that is beyond my comprehension.

   I am grateful that her parents felt her love and caring throughout her ordeal and felt her life meant something to each and everyone of them. That is as it should be. I hope they know that Terri lives on in their hearts and souls and no one in this life can take that away from them.

 

   The last word I have for the family of Terri is for all the love and caring that you gave her through the years and that recognition you felt from her was a great gift of her love.  Who could dispute what the family felt. My heart goes out to all those who loved Terri and the sadness they felt at the way she left this world.

 

   I discovered that Terri and I share the same birthday, December 3, and each year on my birthday I will include Terri in a celebration of life. I will always remember her on this day and whisper a special prayer for her.

 

   May God watch over all those Terri loved and keep them close to His Heart during this most difficult and trying time. May all of you who loved Terri, and for these last months I have come to love her and feel her loss, I pray that her rewards in heaven are continuously received. May her spirit live on in all those who loved her. God Bless you Terri.

 

   My heart grieves for her family and friends. My compassion overflows for the  sorrow of what they have had to endure. They have my love and respect in a continuous flow of love and I am sure that all of us will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

 

With Love and Compassion

~ Francine Pucillo ~