Terri Schiavo’s Mother Mary Schindler Finds 1984 Note From Her Daughter
RSS Newsfeed 
Email article
Printer friendly
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 13, 2008
St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) — Terri Schiavo’s mother Mary Schindler has uncovered a note that Terri wrote back in 1984 when she married her husband Michael. Now remarried to someone with whom he had an affair before Terri’s death, Michael won a court order to take her life despite pleas from her family.
Terri’s brother Bobby Schindler tells LifeNews.com about the note.
"Our family cherishes every memory we have of Terri because there are so few tangible things left to remind us of her," he said. "It is natural for a child to leave her home and family when she marries, taking along the pieces of her life that mean the most to her. Sadly, those were lost to us when she died."
"However, every once in awhile, in the process of straightening and organizing our own homes, one of us will come across something that reminds us of her," he added.
"Our mother found this the other day when she was sorting through a box of old papers. It is a card that Terri wrote to my parents before her wedding in 1984," he said.
During the lawsuit the Schindler family filed to spare Terri from the painful 13-day starvation and dehydration death she ultimately suffered, Michael’s attorneys claimed he knew better about her values.
Michael claimed Terri told him she never wanted to live in an incapacitated state while Terri’s family and friends maintained she had pro-life values.
While watching a documentary on a euthanasia case, Terri once said, "Where there’s life, there’s hope."
The note, in the loose form of a poem or greeting card, appears to validate the argument that Terri’s valued the moral teachings of her pro-life, Catholic parents.
"Today I shall begin a life of my own
just as you did some years ago;
With me shall go the values you taught
the caring you’ve shown, the love that has grown;
and the meaning in a home.
And if when I have a child as you did
it will be given the same love and understanding
that was given to me."
Schindler told LifeNews.com, "It comforts us to know that Terri embraced the values my parents taught us as children – the importance of faith, family and unconditional love."
"While we grieve her loss every day, it gives us joy to know that Terri was very aware of how much she was loved by her family," he said.
Since Terri’s death, her family has put together a foundation to make sure disabled patients like her receive appropriate medical care and rehabilitative treatment.
Related web sites:
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation – https://www.terrisfight.org
