Schiavo

Did I mention that I'm Catholic? Has it occurred to anyone that I'm more Republican than Democrat?

How is it that the party of State's Rights has intervened in this matter? While I may be a "Bush Guy" (on many levels -- har har) how does he reconcile sending all those prisoners to the gurney in Huntsville and then signing this piece of legislative pornography?

In my opinion, dying with dignity doesn't include having a feeding tube prolong you life by 12-15 years. Our parish priest spoke about the issue on Sunday, saying that we, as humans, do not have the right to choose the time of our death. However, hasn't the Lord been waiting for Mrs. Schiavo long enough? Forty years ago, she would have died in a number of weeks.

Five years ago, less than a week after my mom passed away (after several months of the most cruel suffering) my wife's grandfather had a sudden stroke. He just turned 81, and was a vibrant, energenic man until that moment. He was flown to the nearest large hospital, where the doctor told my wife's grandmother that while there was a slight chance that with heroic efforts, he would survive, but he would never recover. He wouldn't be able to communicate. He wouldn't be able to have his great grandchildren sit on his lap and make him smile.

Grandma told the doctor "Well, we talked about this. What we wanted to do if something like this happened. He would never want to live that way; not after the way he was so active." No one asked for a document to prove anything. They wheeled him upstairs to ICU and that is where he died 8 hours later. We miss him; but our memories of him are better because we never saw him like we're seeing Terri Schiavo now.

Selfish, perhaps.