Why this whole question on the fate of Terri Schiavo affects me deeply, I really don’t know. But it seems to have hit a place in me that is rather deep. In some ways, it reminds me of the last time my dad was in the hospital. For those that don’t know the story of my dad, he was severely diabetic and went blind when I was 6 months old. He lost both legs when I was 10 and died from diabetic complications when I was 14. I had never really known him to feel “well”- he was always sick (to some degree – much worse the last 6 years of his life). He was in quite a bit of pain from the amputations (phantom leg pain) and spent most days in bed, smoking, listening to radio talk shows and doing who knows what. Unlike Terri, my dad was quite sound of mind but his illnesses had truly robbed him of most of life’s joys.

He knew, somehow, that the trip to the hospital that night would be his last. He called me in his bedroom to hug me. Consciously, I didn’t know what was going on. I was just scared of his sickness and what was happening. I went and hugged him, not fully realizing that it would be the last time I would ever do so. They took him to the hospital that night where he stayed for about a week. What I remember so clearly is sitting in the waiting room praying for God to take him. He had struggled so hard during his life and was in such pain and I just wanted him to be free of that pain. As much as I loved my dad (and oh, I really did), I wanted him to go to a place without the pain that dragged him down. And I never once felt bad for wanting that for him.

The bit below was taken from my usual place to steal stuff written far better than I ever can:

I can sympathize with the Schindlers. As a parent, I know what it means to love a child. You aren’t supposed to outlive them. It goes against the natural order. What they cleave to now is not their daughter’s life. It’s hope. Clinging to hope is the antithesis of moving forward. So, they are in a struggle with a son-in-law who longs for completion. Everyone involved, no doubt, thinks they are doing what Terri would want, but they can’t know. They are really just projecting their own desires. This isn’t wrong. It’s all you can do when your life is bound up with someone who cannot give you any tangible indication of their wishes. Terri’s desires will be attended to by the hand of fate, by the oversoul that connects us all and speaks the agreements our minds cannot comprehend.

I send all those involved with this ordeal peace and healing and ask the universe to guide them toward their highest good.