Maybe it’s just a severe case of PMS, but when I saw that Terry Schiavo had died this morning, I started to cry. I was at the gym and all of stations on the televisions that hang in the front of the work out room were blasting it. I had about 3 or 4 different station views of the coverage and all of the televisions were showing one of those views.

Why did this make me cry? Well there are many answers to that, but the biggest one is relief.

She has relief now. No longer physically attached to this mortal coil, this woman is now free. Her husband has relief now. He is a strong and brave man in my opinion. His actions appeared to me to be selfless and incredibly challenging. He really fought to do what he felt she wanted.

The country has relief now. The courts decided that in the end it was up to her husband.

Her family has relief. Their endless struggle and difficulty in dealing with her situation are over.

And I’m relieved.
I’m relieved that it’s not going to be on the news anymore. I’m relieved that the very conservative religious don’t have control over everything in the country (yet). I’m relieved that the rights of a husband and wife are that secure. I’m relieved that our government has three branches and in my estimation they worked in this situation.

It’s tragic and it happens to families all over the world more than you’d care to think about. It may be happening to the pope right now. It is an artifact of us getting so good at living. We have more years to live than our parents, grandparents, etc. This makes it more complicated. But in the end it is a family affair. The decision was made by the family she chose. That’s relief for me.