How did I get here? Well, one day recently, with the holidays approaching, I happened to remember receiving a pink diary for Christmas when I was a young girl. It…
I remember the day I decided to watch some of the coverage of President Gerald Ford’s funeral. In particular, I wanted to see the motorcade pause in front of the…
Appetizer How do you usually celebrate on New Year’s Eve? We stay home! The last couple of years we’ve cooked prime rib for dinner which is wonderful because it is…
“Sure,” comes the reply in the very old, corny joke. “Practice! Practice! Practice!”I couldn’t resist. But we have our first rehearsal for Carnegie Hall tonight and I am really excited…
. . . and I have to share one from today:Yes, that’s my baby getting into a limo in front of my house, wearing a tux for the first time,…
This is just one of the many, many things for which I am thankful, but it sure was a nice pre-Turkey Day present!!The Sopranos Goes LongMonday, November 20, 2006The Sopranos…
Folks ask me how I came to know Clint Ritchie personally. Ironically, Conservatorship of Wendland played a role. Like so many other aspects of my life (so far), this story…
Part of the beginning of the new school year for The Boo is a “Unity” retreat. He and his classmates left today and will not return until Saturday evening.It is…
Today my baby started high school. And it made me feel old. It also makes me wonder how this day in our lives got here so fast.Now that’s a sure…
“This is the hardest case.” So said the Third District Court of Appeal on February 24, 2000. It was the very first sentence of its lengthy ruling. And, in my…
The Cost of the Call (Part Two): Reflections in Conjunction with the 5th Anniversary of the Wendland Victory Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of the California Supreme Court’s decision in…
Consider this:Angels provide us with many of our insights. We often call this inspiration or enlightenment, little realizing that we are actually taking the light of consciousness that they provide…
The Cost of the Call (Part One): Reflections in Conjunction with the 5th Anniversary of the Wendland Victory Β “Call” is defined as: 1. To order or request to undertake…
In the July 2006 issue of “California Lawyer,” Gerald Uelmen reviews the work of the California Supreme Court over the past decade under the leadership of Chief Justice Ronald George.Among…
I’ve been gushing on and on about James Gandolfini. I even said he was the greatest actor ever in the history of television.
I admit that I should have qualified my assessment. Gandolfini is the greatest actor ever in the history of primetime television.
Daytime television? Different story.
The greatest actor in the history of daytime television is none other than my very dear friend, Clint Ritchie. ((Clint is retired, so I no longer get to watch his handsome mug on my television screen on a regular basis which explains my “senior moment”.))
Things just haven’t been the same since Clint decided, in December 1998, not to renew his contract with ABC and left the role of Clint Buchanan that he created on “One Life to Live” back on September 10, 1979.
The following comes from the AP:Injured Man’s Brain Rewires ItselfBy MARILYNN MARCHIONE(July 4) – Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years…
“Watching Florida” posted a comment in response to my prior entry about the death of Dr. Ronald Cranford that I feel deserves comment, so I am moving it into the…
Medical expert in Terry Schiavo case diesAssociated PressMINNEAPOLIS – Neurologist Dr. Ronald Cranford, one of the nation’s leading medical ethicists and right-to-die advocates, died Wednesday at a hospice in Edina,…
I’m going to be having a birthday in a few months. A really BIG birthday. Frankly, I don’t even want to think about it. But here’s the thing: I’m the…
It has been four (4) months since my mother, Ethel, died. She left this world on October 13, 2005, but she left her family long before that.
She left us very slowly, very gradually, literally inching further and further away until she finally retreated into a little corner of her own mind, her own universe, where we could no longer connect with her.
And then I did something I never thought I could ever find myself doing: I wished that she would die.
Bob and Mary Schindler spoke at Life Legal Defense Foundation’s (“LLDF”) annual dinner on November 12, 2005, in Berkeley. It was my privilege to finally meet them face to face, and have a little time to visit with them.
The first thing that struck me about the Schindlers is that they appeared to be utterly exhausted — physically, mentally, emotionally. Since Terri’s death last March, they have been traveling around the country speaking about the case, her death, and doing their best to educate families about the dangers they could face if a loved one becomes incapacitated. As I looked into their eyes and listened to them speak, it seemed incomprehensible to me that either of them could even get out of bed in the morning and concluded that they must be carrying on through a combination of sheer iron will and a deeply-held faith.
I extend my thanks to all of you who have expressed such kind thoughts and remembrances in the past couple of weeks. I appreciate your reaching out more than I can describe and will write more later about “the long good-bye,” as Nancy Reagan aptly termed it, we said to my mother over a period of several years.
In tribute to her, I share here the eulogy that was read at the celebration of her life, a worship in memoriam, on October 19, 2005:
Bob and Mary Schindler will be the featured speakers at the annuel fund-raising dinner for Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF), based in Napa, on November 12, 2005.
I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to meet the Schindlers and hear them tell the story of their battle to save their daughter’s life, as well as the horrifying manner in which she spent her last days on earth.