Teresa Marie Schiavo

On February 25, 1990 Terri Schaivo collapsed in her home, struck by cardiac arrest from low potassium levels, her bulimia, and the “Iced Tea Diet” she had been on. She was resuscitated but suffered serious brain damage, it was too late. She had been gone too long, her brain had been deprived of oxygen. She was in a vegetative state for the next fifteen years while her husband, her family, and eventually the entire country was up in arms about what should be done with her. Her family believed there was hope for recovery but her husband thought otherwise and knew she wouldn’t have wanted to live like this. Everyone was speaking for her, now it’s her turn to speak for herself.

Today is the day
March 31, 2004
The day I die
Well, my body dies today
My soul has been gone for years.
I have been up with the ringing of the trumpets and the streets of gold.

I never imagined it would be like this.
So many people mourning a loss,
The day my heart stops beating.
They so badly wanted to save me,
Or what they thought me to be,
That empty shell of a body I left behind
So many people know my name
So many people have heard my story,
But what they see as me isn’t real.
I’m not in there.
That thing my mother kisses,
Is simply what I left behind.
I didn’t die today.
It’s not the day my soul ascended to the heavens;
That has long since gone.
That day there was no one to blame but myself,
No lawsuits,
No presidential orders,
Just me,
And my own stupid decisions.
I was constantly striving to become thinner,
I was chubby as a kid,
I grew up.
I decided to change that,
constantly pushing the limits,
Well I found them.

Michael found me
Face down on the floor
No heart beat
No oxygen to my brain.
At that moment I was gone.
I left this place where our hearts beat and our lungs rise and fall in our chests
I went home.

I left my body behind.
They thought they saved me.
They made my heart thump again in my chest,
But it was just lifeless body,
Just the piece I left behind.
I didn’t know the whole country would fight over my leftovers.
My family, My husband,
Once tight knit,
Now torn.
Over nothing but a heartbeat and lungs rising and falling in a chest,
And maybe the occasional involuntary movement.
They fought out of love,
Both sides did,
Little did they know, no one could win.
For I already had;
I have been in a perfect place,
Where I walk the streets of gold.
I have been away from the pain and suffering of the earth,
For fifteen years.

I am flattered,
To see how much I am loved on earth.

I am loved by my husband,
He did everything in his power to save what was left of me,
He fought through over twenty lawsuits to get me what I disserved.
He was willing to give up his life for the nothing that was left of mine
He was going to give up everything to take care of that thing I left behind,
He took it to the most state-of-the-art rehabilitation facilities our country has to offer,
With no luck.
He was willing to do it out of love.
But soon, he saw, he knew,
He realized.
It wasn’t me in there,
That thing those pricy doctors and specialists worked with.
It was just a cadaver with a heartbeat.
He knew I loved him,
He knew I wouldn’t want him or my family to live with the burden of my remains,
He knew he had to let it go,
He knew I would want him to move on,
Find love again,
And be happy.
I know he loved me,
I will always love him.

I was loved by my Family.
They did everything they could to save me,
But I was already gone.
They tried so hard to believe I was somewhere in there,
But I was already gone.
They kissed me and talked to me, and tried to believe the reflexes to be smiles and laughter,
But I was already gone.
They were willing to give up their lives to take care of that stupid body I left behind,
But I was already gone.
They videotaped It’s every move,
Every twitch of the mouth,
Every blink of Its eye,
Trying to prove I was in there somewhere,
And that there was someone in there to save.
They didn’t know anything else to do,
Their “Good Book” told them I had the right to live.
They did it out of love,
But I was already gone.
It really isn’t me dying today, it is their hope,
They believed me to be living,
Out of fear of me dying.
Because they don’t know
That I am already gone

I was loved by my country,
They all took sides.
Everyone,
Young and old,
Families crowded around the television to hear my story,
People from all walks of life.
From the neurologists to the people of God,
To children learning in their schools,
And The Big Apple businessmen.
Sea to shining sea,
They all had an opinion on what was best for me,
Some were pro-life
Some were right-to-die
They didn’t know what
My Michael saw,
Why couldn’t They open their eyes and see??
It wasn’t me in there.
I was nowhere near that temple God once lent me.
I was already gone.
I was already home.