Schools Ponder Role As Child Nears Death
from BFP, Bint, MissCripChick, and others:
Schools Ponder Role As Child Nears Death
As the school bus rolled to a stop outside her Lake County home, Beth Jones adjusted the bright yellow document protruding from the pouch of her daughter's wheelchair, making sure it was clearly visible.
In bold letters it warned, "Do Not Resuscitate."
The DNR ( Read more... )
Schools Ponder Role As Child Nears Death
As the school bus rolled to a stop outside her Lake County home, Beth Jones adjusted the bright yellow document protruding from the pouch of her daughter's wheelchair, making sure it was clearly visible.
In bold letters it warned, "Do Not Resuscitate."
The DNR ( Read more... )
I understand that that's a tough choice to make, and I'm not trying to say I know everything about what's going on. But I have to be truthful and tell you that the whole idea of "being held back by a body and mind that won't let you be free" is something that I believe is wrongheaded. It's the idea that hidden inside people with disabilities, there's some "soul" without them, and a disability is some sort of bad varnish that sits over you for all your life.
I reject that categorically. Yes, I have a disability, but I'm not somebody who deep inside is just like you, but broken. I am me, and this body and mind belong to me, and if God and souls and heaven do exist, I'm not going to become something or somebody totally different when I'm released from my body. I'm still going to be me, and I'm still going to remember what it's like to live in the body I lived in, good, bad, or indifferent.
And I don't think when I'm up in Heaven I'm gonna waste time hating on the angels who screwed up and stuffed me into the "wrong" body. I'm gonna laugh and sing and play, whether heaven-soul-legs work like yours would or like mine did.
So I appreciate your stopping by, and I thank you for sharing your story, and I'm sure you loved Katie very much, but I have to be honest and confess to you you haven't changed my mind.
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I was just thinking about Katie last night and went looking for the article about her DNR which is how I ended up here. I found myself getting angrier and angrier reading the hateful things that were being said about her parents and realizing that they didn't know anything about this situation and didn't truly know Katie's mental and physical state.
I understand your feelings. I just wanted to share what I know of the situation. I'm not close to them, but am close to people who are. I think my biggest frustration was with the idea that people believe that Katie's parents didn't love her and just thought she was a burden. It couldn't have been further from the truth! They loved her so much and accepting that they were going to lose her was very difficult for them. Katie had been beating the odds from the time she was born. She wasn't supposed to live as long as she did or do some of the things she did, but I think it was the love of her family and the people around her that kept her going. Everyone was constantly working to keep Katie alive and comfortable! She is deeply missed by everyone.
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