Greater Love

If there is one good thing to come from the death of Terri Schiavo, it is the lesson we were taught by her parents.

How easy it would have been for them fifteen years ago to have relegated the care of Terri to her husband (I’m almost loathe to use that title) Michael. They very easily could have stepped back and let Michael fight the legal battles that were on the horizon…then allowed him to do as he would with the spoils of the court battles. They could have said, “Do what you can for Terri, then start a new life for yourself.” However, that was not the path they chose. They saw the looming injustices and devoted themselves heart and soul to their child. Legal battle after legal battle, setback after setback, one discouragement after another, they continued their relentless pursuit of justice and the salvation of Terri’s life. In spite of a son-in-law with ulterior motives and a failed judicial sytem they refused to surrender their God given rights and responsibilities as parents.

In this day when we have abortion on demand, when we have parents abandoning their children, and when the outrage of rampant child abuse is rearing it’s horriffic head at every turn, what are we to learn from this most tragic and unjust of situations? Love, devotion, and fidelity are words that many of us have dropped from our lexicon. Thank God that Bob and Mary Schindler did not. In spite of the tragic ending to Terri’s life, the Schindlers, with their dogged determination to save Terri’s life, have remined us as parents, that love, devotion, and fidelity are still qualities that are to be highly prized.

Bob and Mary, thank you and may we never forget what you have given us.