Terri Schiavo Forgets Her Dad’s Birthday, Will She Celebrate Hers?
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 24, 2004
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) — Terri Schiavo forgot her father’s birthday this year. But, knowing her Dad, I’m sure he doesn’t mind.
The disabled woman has been the subject of intense national debate and many who have argued about or decided her fate have forgotten she is a human being capable of showing emotion and interacting with her family.
And interact she did when her parents visited her on Saturday.
Although she was still in bed, Terri was in good spirits, Cheryl Ford, a nurse and friend of her parents Bob and Mary Schindler, wrote in a note to LifeNews.com.
Bob Schindler said he told Terri yesterday’s date, October 23, and asked her if she remembered the significance of it.
Bob said Terri laughed and began to roll her eyes, indicating by her laughter that she remembered Saturday was her father’s birthday.
Ford said Bob began to tease his daughter about forgetting to get him a birthday present and Terri laughed even louder.
That’s the kind of interaction Terri’s parents receive from their daughter on a frequent basis, and the kind of human emotion that euthanasia advocates, like George Felos, the attorney for Terri’s estranged husband Michael, often forget.
That connection and the love Terri continues to give prompts Bob and Mary to do simple, little things to brighten Terri’s world — like hanging up Halloween decorations in her hospice room.
But, they may not stay up for long.
Cards, flowers, and other decorations don’t stick around much in Terri’s room. Over the years they have frequently been removed by Michael or hospice staff at his request.
The Halloween festivities may be no exception, but perhaps for a different reason.
The Schindlers "were told by the police officer who stands guard at Terri’s door how the decorations would not be up for very long," Ford wrote.
According to Ford, Terri may be moved from the Park Place Assisted Living facility back to the Woodside Hospice. It is there where she has spent most of her recent years while her parents and husband, now living with his fiance and mother of two of his children, fight an ongoing legal battle.
"The Schindlers’ have not been given official word about the move as yet so they are uncertain where their daughter will be relocated," Ford wrote.
How long Terri will live — or how long Terri is allowed to live — is anybody’s guess. While she may have forgotten her father’s birthday, God has remembered hers.
Judge George Greer set the third, and perhaps final time, to remove Terri’s feeding tube for December 6. Terri’s 41st birthday will be celebrated by her friends and family on December 3.
Let’s not forget it.
Related web sites:
Terri Schiavo’s family – https://www.terrisfight.org
