Terri Shiavo

Sign your living wills, now!

At least we can all agree on one thing; this case is sad and difficult.

I was thinking about what people like about me (hopefully one or two things) and I think those are also the things that define who I am - energetic, outgoing, enthusiastic, supportive, funny. Then I think about which of those things I'd be if I were in a persistive vegetative state.

None.

I guess it's a fact that I wouldn't be the same person; the question is am I still a person at all.

People are what they can do and what they can dream. They are the choices they make and the people they surround themselves with. They are reflected by the art and love and joy they create.

If I'm no longer capable of those things, if I can't make decisions, then I'm not me. Let me go and be happy that you knew me. Don't force me to continue an empty existence in a world I'm not contributing to. Don't keep pumping food and water into a body. Let that body go.

It's not me.