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NRL News
Schindler
Family to be Honored at Editor’s note: The annual dinner will be held October 2 and take place at the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel in Washington, D.C. Their valiant struggle to save the life of their daughter and sister was played out in primetime and splashed across newspapers and magazine covers around the globe, Yet they remain the kindest, most genuine, and most humble family you could ever hope to meet. They taught us what it means to love unconditionally and to defend life without reserve. Robert and Mary Schindler were married in January of 1963. Their daughter, Theresa Marie Schindler, was born nearly a year later on December 3, 1963, followed closely by son Robert, “Bobby,” on January 6, 1965, and daughter Suzanne on April 17, 1968. They were a typical Italian Catholic family – the children were educated in parochial elementary and high schools and the family attended Mass faithfully. Holidays were loud affairs filled with an assortment of aunts, uncles, cousins, and an inordinate amount of laughter and love. Family life consisted of shared meals, pets, dance recitals, sports, humor, and a faith that tied them together. Following Terri’s marriage, Bobby’s graduation from college, and Suzanne’s graduation from high school, the family moved to Florida where they remain today. On February 25, 1990, their average life took an alarming turn – every family’s worst nightmare became their reality. Terri collapsed while home alone with her husband. She was rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with hypoxic encephalopathy – a neurological injury caused by lack of oxygen to the brain. The Schindlers’ battle for Terri’s life began in 1998 when her husband petitioned the court to remove her nutrition and hydration, which would result in her death. From that point forward, Bob, Mary, Bobby, and Suzanne’s lives were focused on saving Terri. Their only desire was to take her home, love her, and care for her for the duration of her natural life. They endured court hearings, legislative battles, and three separate attempts to withdraw Terri’s food and fluids over the course of five years. Sadly, Terri’s courageous struggle, and her family’s tireless efforts to protect her, ended on March 31, 2005, when she succumbed to dehydration and starvation at the hands of a faithless judicial system and at the request of her husband. Remarkably, this was not the end of the Schindlers’ battle against the Culture of Death, but rather the beginning of their larger struggle to bring the truth about euthanasia to a largely uneducated and indifferent public. Where most families would have given up, the Schindlers have put their pain and grief into action, helping save many lives and impacting countless others. In the years since Terri’s death, the Schindlers have continued to work together to build the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation in an effort to help other families save their loved ones from the same evil that took Terri from them. The Schindlers are a credit to the cause of life and continue to be the living legacy Terri left behind to light the way on an often dark road. The battle against euthanasia is far from over, but the cause of life has gained four new champions. We are grateful to them for their faith, courage, love, and inspiration, but more than anything, we are indebted to them for reminding us that “where there is life, there is hope.” |