Super Man

"Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out into the ocean." ~Christopher Reeve

* I encourage everyone to find time to watch the videos.
** Please note that the opinions expressed here are solely mine.  They have not been endorsed by The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

http://youtu.be/G6doXa7fU74 [Video tribute I made in honor of Christopher Reeve]
http://youtu.be/gNz3_fC4ijY [Christopher Reeve on Carson/1979 GREAT interview]

When I was young girl, back before I started school, I use to help my mother do some of her chores around the house. She’d save her ironing, clothes folding and cleaning of the den to do during the time when a couple of her stories, a.k.a. serial dramas/soap operas, were on, and she let me help so that I wouldn’t whine or nag after her. [As a mother, you create peace of mind and a quiet atmosphere however you can!] Later, during summers off from school, the t.v. would, again, be on as we continued with that routine of doing chores, while we watched our stories.
One show that became of particular interest to me was Love of Life. The year was 1974. I was 11, and it was the year that I developed a crush on an actor named Christopher Reeve, who played bad boy, Ben Harper. It was back in the days when girls referred to guys as "dreamy", and he was. Lord, that man was dreamy! I was smitten. Until that time, my crush had been on Donny Osmond [He's dreamy too]. It was a new experience to crush on the wild side, i.e. a bad boy. It didn’t matter that Ben Harper wasn’t real. Christopher Reeve was and so was the crush. Holidays, Christmas and spring break couldn’t come soon enough for me, so that I could catch him on that show. In the meantime, I kept up with him via soap opera magazines, [my allowance money at use] because, at that time, no one had ever heard of a magical little device called a "VCR".
I stopped watching the show after he left it, but I continued to follow him. My favorite role that he ever did – it still makes my heart go pitter-patter a bit – was when he played Richard Collier in the movie, Somewhere in Time. I wasn’t alone. My sister, Pam, drooled over him too. I also saved my allowance money so that I could buy the cassette tape of the soundtrack. [Yes, cassette tapes - another dinosaur of my life and times...] I played it over and over. I’d never liked instrumental music much. Then again, I’d never truly considered it, but I loved the scores from that movie. And, Christopher Reeve was no longer a bad boy. His character was a romantic, and that appealed to me a LOT, because I’m a romantic too.
I read somewhere once that Somewhere in Time was also his personal favorite from amongst his repertory. I liked that. Even though he did not know me, we had something in common. The movie put a yearning desire within me to want to visit Mackinac Island. [Which my husband and I did a few years ago...story for another day.] Let me just say this: Mackinac Island is as gorgeous as Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour!
My crush, however, began to turn to a devoted admiration during Memorial Day weekend. It was May 27, 1995, when the news reported that Christopher Reeve had suffered a serious equestrian accident during a competition in Culpepper, Virginia. It was reported that a rabbit had spooked his horse. The details given were that Christopher had held onto the bit, bridle and reins, which were pulled off the horse, which, in turn, pulled him from the horse. His hands were tied together. As a result, he landed headfirst, all 215 pounds of him, onto the other side of the fence, and upon hitting it, his first and second vertebrae were shattered. It still sends a shiver down my spin just envisioning it again all these years later. It sent a shiver down my spine, back then, when it was reported that before paramedics reached him, he’d not been breathing for a few minutes. He was taken by helicopter to The University of Virginia Medical Center. I don’t know if I immediately said a silent prayer or gasped first? I do remember that gasp though.
"Oh, no!" I cried out, horrified by the news. "No!"
It didn’t sound good. From what I knew of Mr. Reeve, over the years that I’d followed his career, he was a very athletic guy. I couldn’t imagine what an injury like that would mean for someone who was known to be the outdoors man that he was? I began to follow his prognosis as well as his progress much like I’d followed his career 20 years prior: searching for any news I could find about him and his injury.
It was during this time that I developed the utmost respect for his wife, Dana. What a courageous couple they were to face what seemed like insurmountable odds with such fierce devotion and determination. It was a beautiful love story. I remember seeing his first interview with Barbara Walters after his accident. I cried when he said that he’d had a brief thought of suicide. It’s not that I blamed him. Who could blame him for feeling that? I mean, it’s hard to know what any of us would feel or want to do faced with that particular circumstance, and those particular odds. His reaction was a very human one, from where I sat. What made me cry harder was what Dana said to him when he suggested that "maybe we should let me go".  She said in response: "I am only going to say this once. I will support whatever you want to do, because this is your life, and your decision. But, I want you to know that I’ll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You’re still you. And, I love you."
God, I loved her in that moment for giving him that gift, which I’m certain is something that he desperately needed to hear from her. They say that he never considered suicide as an option again. The day I heard of the courage and grace that Dana Reeve exhibited amidst this tragedy is when she also became a member of my "Most Respected and Admired" list. Dana raised him up, and Christopher elevated the rest of us! It was a conscious awareness that they both raised. He did it from a wheelchair, unable to feel below his neck. [He would change that a bit over the years with intense therapy.] Yet, he inspired and championed a cause not just for himself but for millions of other people who suffered from spinal cord injuries. His message became one of hope. He was a beacon - a bright light who delivered it, with Dana by his side ~ Super Man and his Angel - that's how I viewed them. What an inspiring and unbeatable combination! They were, quite simply, amazing ambassadors for this cause, and no two people could have better rallied for it the way they did. Instead of retreating from the public eye or crying "why me", they channeled their energies and focused attention where it needed to be directed, namely, stem cell research.
I remember reading something once that said in effect, "when you don’t think you can do something, that is when you must try the hardest." Mr. Reeve pressed on and began expanding his horizons in the broadest sense of that word. It amazed me to read of all the things he was doing and investigating in order to become as schooled and versed in spinal cord injuries and potential developments in that field, as was humanely possible. For someone who did not have a medical degree, he was articulate, eloquent and very knowledgeable on the subject. But, he was frustrated by things that were not being done, investigated or researched. Instead of being stuck in that frustration about the lack of progress and advancement in our country with regard to his type of injury and what was being done to aid in a cure for it, namely stem cell research, he took his frustration and went to Israel. It was there that he discovered a whole new world of possibilities and progressive thinking with regard to medical treatment in a country that was at the forefront of research in the advancement of rehabilitative care concerning spinal cord injuries.
Keeping tabs on him and what he was doing at the time, I found him as awe-inspiring as the work he was doing. I remember seeing Mr. Reeve on Larry King Live, while he was in Tel Aviv. I believe the year was 2003, but don't quote me on the date.  In any event, he spoke of the groundbreaking recovery process that patients there had undergone because of the advanced type of treatment and research that was being done in Israel. He explained that research progressed more rapidly in Israel than almost anywhere else in the world, with regard to this specific type injury, because Israel had made innovative – pioneering decisions about stem cells and what should be done with them where research was concerned. Much debate, he indicated, had occurred on the topic, but, in the end, it had been decided that secular law must prevail over certain tenants that were being used to hinder progress in that most vital area of research. It was something, he said that "WE need to learn in the United States." A different kind of Superman had been born in the aftermath of his unfortunate accident - not one who fought bad guys and crime, but one who fought against bad ideas and ignorance. One thing, however, stayed the same: they both fought against social injustice, and they both fought to help people who needed a superhuman influence.
Soon after, he began tirelessly advocating for stem cell research. He traveled across our country, making speeches about the issues he was facing as well as the discoveries he was making. He fought not just for himself but for countless others who would benefit from the things that he was learning about spinal cord injuries and the particular-specialized research that was needed to make paralysis a thing of the past. He began schooling the rest of us in the benefits of that research, stating that it would unlock the doors to a whole host of illnesses that continued to be mysteries to the medical community, and it would open the door to potential cures besides just spinal cord injury. And, he began speaking out to his acting community, telling them that they had a responsibility to make movies that address the world’s most important social issues. It was time to start tackling the problems that disabled Americans faced, he urged. In publically taking this stance, he took his prior, physical drive and competitive spirit as related to sport’s activities and harnessed that energy into an intellectual thesis based on scientific findings and personal experience that would become the blueprint for his legacy. His acumen of purpose was as insightful and impassioned in a humanitarian context, as his love of sports had been in a competitive one.
Instead of his circumstance slowing him down, it seemed to give him a renewed energy. I remember seeing him at the ‘96 Academy Awards. It was where he discussed his new-found desire to do all he could to bring awareness to these important issues that Hollywood, with its fame and money, could assist in effecting the change that was much needed.
"Hollywood," he said. "Needs to do more. Let’s continue to take risks. Let’s tackle these issues. In many ways, our film community can do it better than anyone else. There is no challenge, artistic or otherwise, that we can’t meet."
I sat glued to the television and remember the tears I felt as that audience stood for him and gave him a thunderous ovation.
He didn’t stop there though. He took his voice to the Democratic National Convention; he hosted the Paralympics in Atlanta; he was on the August 1996 issue of Time magazine. Also that year, he narrated the HBO film Without Pity: A Film About Abilities, which won an Emmy for "Outstanding Informational Special." In the span of a year, Christopher Reeve changed his seemingly, newly deemed persona as a perceived tragic figure, and showed us all that he was more of a Superman than that red robe and form-fitting blue body suit, with the large, emblazoned "S", had ever implied or defined.
Thereafter, he took a small role in a film which, I believe, truly revealed his hope for the future: A Step Towards Tomorrow.
His resume doesn’t stop there. Christopher Reeve was elected Chairman of the American Paralysis Association and Vice Chairman of the National Organization on Disability. He co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is one of the leading spinal cord research centers in the world today. He also created the Christopher Reeve Foundation (currently known as the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation) which increased research through funding, and the use of grants to improve the quality of the lives of people who live with disabilities. Since 1999, TC&DRF has given more than $15 million to its quality-of-life grant program. To date, the Foundation has given more than $87 million in research. That puts a new spin on the word super.  Being disabled now myself, I have so much greater appreciation for what he has done on behalf of Americans with disabilities!
However, becoming the face for spinal cord awareness, research and progress wasn’t his only passion or accomplishment. He was an actor. He was a director. He was a writer. He did it all so well. He made it made it all look so effortless. He had a superhuman will. Often, for known reasons, he’s compared to Superman. Superman’s got nothing on Christopher Reeve. His courage and grace gave him more strength than all the Kryptonite in the universe and beyond.
In 1997, he made his directorial debut with the HBO film, In the Gloaming. The film won four Cable Ace Awards and was nominated for five Emmys including "Outstanding Director for a Miniseries or Special." Then, in 1998, Christopher produced and starred in Rear Window, a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film. Not only was he nominated for a Golden Globe, but he won a Screen Actors Guild Award for that performance. As someone who first crushed on him because of his acting, I was glad to see him back doing something that he was meant to do, and that I especially loved seeing him do. While I loved the original movie with Jimmy Stewart, there was something intriguing about his portrayal of that main character which gave the movie more of a thriller aspect because we knew, watching it, that Christopher Reeve truly was in that wheelchair. He wasn’t acting that part. The reality of his disability gave the movie a much intenser quality with regard to suspense.
My sister and I watched it together, just as we had watched many, many times before, our favorite and his classic movie, Somewhere In Time. We were as enthralled with him in that movie as we were years prior, regarding the later mentioned, but our love of him had been expounded upon: we also had enormous respect for and immense admiration of him. He was a true example of grace; of determination; of perseverance. He was an odds beater. Life, as he lived it, would not keep him down or out or silent. He was a testament to an enduring spirit.
Then, in April of 1998, Random House published his autobiography, Still Me. [I remember because I used some of the money my husband gave me as part of my anniversary gift, and bought it.] I knew it was going to be good and do well. Christopher Reeve didn’t know how to do anything any other way. That book spent eleven weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, and he won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album to boot. Not only did Superman pale in comparison to him but so did Midas.
One of his greatest humanistic disciplines though was that he believed that a cure not only could but WOULD be found for paralysis. He exercised to keep his body in the best shape possible so that it would be ready when that cure was found. While working toward that goal, it’s been reported that he began to regain some motor function, and was able to sense hot and cold temperatures on his body. I heard a story once, perhaps it was an interview that he and Dana did about progress... Anyway, one of his doctors, asked him if he had anything new to report about his recovery. He moved his left index finger on command.
He’s reported as saying, "I don't think Dr. McDonald would have been more surprised if I had just walked on water!".
It was a hopeful gesture. He had a hopeful attitude. He made us have hope too.
Because he felt that he needed to do more with regard to spinal cord repair, he and Dana created The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and Paralysis Resource Center, in New Jersey. Its mission is to teach paralyzed people to live more independently. Its actual Mission Statement reads: "The Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research, and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy." [I’ve supported it for years, and encourage others to support it too. They do GREAT work!]
In speaking about the facility, he said. "When somebody is first injured or as a disease progresses into paralysis, people don't know where to turn. Dana and I wanted a facility that could give support and information to people. With this new Center, we're off to an amazing start." That start has turned into an amazing endeavor, which continues on in both of their gracious-giving spirits and memories. This man [with the help of his wife, Dana] took a tragedy and turned it into a triumph, but he didn’t do it solely for himself. He did it to help others who needed a strong, determined advocate to take on this issue, on their behalf.
I remember how vigorously he and Dana lobbied for expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to include all embryonic stem cell lines that were in existence. I’d never heard of embryonic stem cell research until that time. Mr. Reeve was also a teacher who didn’t seem phased by the fact that much of what he was educating us on was considered controversial. Make no mistake, it was VERY controversial. He responded to that controversy by pointing out that the research would only use embryos that would be otherwise discarded. He said, "We don't want to create embryos just for research. We want to rescue these cells from the garbage...I don't understand how you can be opposed to that? I don’t."
A portion - PORTION of stem cell researchers use embryos that were created but not used for in vitro fertility treatments to derive new stem cell lines. The creation of a human embryonic stem cell line does require the destruction of a human embyro, but keep in mind that most of these embryos are to be destroyed because they are stored for periods of time that long surpass their viability otherwise. And, of course, a big part of the debate rests with whether a person believes that life begins at the moment of conception?  I use to believe that it did, but throughout this debate that's been going on for the better part of a decade, I'm no longer certain.  From my understanding of the argument against embryonic stem cell research, the fundamental premise of those who oppose it rests solely with the belief that human life is sacrosanct [I believe] and it's unable to be transferred [I do not believe, because of the organ donation program, i.e. heart, lung, face, etc].  It is also coupled with the belief that human life begins when a sperm cell fertilizes an egg cell.  From my examination of this debate, and trying to decipher what all the particulars mean exactly, an embryo is only human once it has developed cells that perform human functions. I've not found concrete proof that distinguishes when an embryonic cell is able to perform human functions.   Likewise, not all stem cell research involves the creation, usage and destruction of human embryos. Adult stem cells, amniotic stems cells and induced pluripotent stem cells do NOT involve the creation, usage or destruction of human embryos. Again, there is debate among doctors and scientists as to when exactly an embryo is able to perform human functions, and if there is debate among these highly educated specialists, then I'm quite certain I don't know for sure what the answer is.  It's a complicated issue.   In the United States, it is estimated that, at least, 400,000 such embryos exist, i.e. those to be destroyed because they've surpassed a viable shelf life, for lack of a better term. This has led some opponents of abortion to support human embryonic stem cell research.  Think about that for a minute.  If something is going to be destroyed, and there is no debate about that fact, why not use it instead to do good works that honor  life - that benefit it for other living cells which need it versus simply destroying it altogether?  That makes sense to me, but, then again, I've never been a "throw the baby out with the bathwater" kind of person.
Some even believe, from reading that I've done, that human skin cells can be coaxed to "de-differentiate" and revert back to an embryonic state. Human skin cells.  Isn't that amazing?  I read also that Kevin Eggan, a Researcher at  Harvard University, along with other researchers, have attempted to transfer the nucleus of a somatic [relating to the body] cell into an existing embryonic stem cell which would create a new stem cell line. I wrote that down exactly as I read it, because it's a little like reading Greek to me.  Still, another 2006 study indicates that differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state.  When something seems like Greek to me, I ponder it.  This is the question that I have: does that make them human?  Skin cells, differentiated cells that are reprogrammed and are embryonic-like, I mean... That doesn't sound human. Embryonic-like sounds more equivalent to faux fur or akin to leatherette material?  I don't know?  I'm asking....trying to reason it out.
What I do know is that Nancy Reagan is on record in support of embryonic stem cell research. Mrs Reagan has stated that too much time has already been wasted discussing-debating the issue.  Her direct quote: "I just don't see how we can turn our backs on this... We have lost so much time already. I just really can't bear to lose any more."  Amen, Mrs. Reagan.  Amen.  Hers is a powerful conservative voice in support of Christopher Reeve's position.
It’s not a political matter. It shouldn’t be a moral issue. It’s a call for concern and compassion to yield a cure for illnesses that range from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s disease. I don’t understand how anyone could think that it’s a bad thing, or that it’s wrong? I just don’t.
What I do understand is that Christopher Reeve was a tireless advocate for the things that he believed in. It didn’t matter who you were. If he felt you were wrong, he opposed the stance you took, but he did so graciously.
President George W. Bush limited federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cell lines that were created on or before August 9, 2001 [Mrs. Reagan pled for him to reconsider this position]. In doing so, however, he did allocate approximately $100 million toward research that met his personal criteria. For Christopher Reeve, the President’s proposition seemed like an initial "step in the right direction", though he admitted, at the time, that he did not know what the "existing lines" qualification meant, and he vowed to further investigate it. After he discovered from scientists that many of those old lines were contaminated, he fought against the restriction. For the remainder of his life, he valiantly continued his fight for responsible stem cell research.
In 2002, Christopher Reeve lobbied for the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 [For complete text, see H.R. Bill 2505]. I’m not a doctor, and I will admit that all the scientific lingo makes my head spin. However, my basic understanding of the bill is that it, in essence, allowed for somatic cell [somatic=relating to the body] nuclear transfer research, but banned reproductive cloning. Mr. Reeve argued, rightly so, that stem cell implantation was unsafe unless the stem cells contained the patient's DNA. That sounds logical enough. What I learned from my research [remember, I’m just a layperson] is that somatic cell nuclear transfer is done without the fertilization of an egg.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer [SCNT] is a laboratory technique used for creating a clonal embryo, using an ovum with a donor nucleus. It can be used in embryonic stem cell research, or, potentially, in regenerative medicine. Unlike reproduction, it can and should be regulated. I'm not 100% certain just what that "donor nucleus" refers to, but I know that there is no fertilization of an egg involved with this process. If you read up on this technique you'll find as I did that, presently, no human stem cell lines have been derived from SCNT research.
Therefore, I’m stumped as to where the "right to life" argument comes into play? I don’t see how it could. Unless I failed Biology in high school, which I'll admit I struggled with considerably but passed nonetheless, a non-fertilized egg means that no life can be developed, because male reproductive material [for anyone who wants that classification spelled out - sperm] has not been introduced into said egg. I’m no rocket scientist, but that doesn’t seem too difficult to understand, if you understand the birds and the bees. I believe it's one of the reasons Mr. Reeve was able to argue so vehemently in support of this research.  With this process, how is human life being harmed if there has been no fertilization of an egg, so that life is able to develop in the first place?  As I've said, I’m just a layperson, but I’ve followed this closely for years, and read a lot about it.  I think my non-medical brain has processed the information in a logical manner. I don’t see how a quantum leap can be made to make SCNT anything beyond this simply stated but rather accurate description of my understanding based on what I've read.  But, it's my understanding...
That being said, there was a bigger picture under development with Mr. Reeve’s support of stem cell research. He lobbied for scientists to be allowed to conduct stem cell research in the hopes of one day curing not only paralysis but OTHER illnesses too as previously mentioned. Those other illnesses include Diabetes, Cancer, genetically inhereited diseases as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and that’s not all of them.
I could go on and on about Mr. Reeve’s list of accomplishments. The point being made here is that when the going got tough, Christopher Reeve got going. After what happened to him in May of 1995, he could have very easily folded, said "to hell with it!  I'm done!" and retreated to his home to live a quiet life with his family. Instead, he used his pain; his celebrity and his voice to raise awareness for a cause that, because he championed it, has made a huge difference with regard to spinal cord injury treatment, advancement in the search for a cure and rehabilitation. It seems that we’re closer than ever to people walking again as a result of his efforts. It has been stated by doctors and normal Joe’s and Josephine’s, like me, that Christopher Reeve has done more for the advancement of understanding and treatment in spinal cord injuries and its repair than anyone else. I could not agree more!
Like him, I don’t believe in the Machiavellian principle that states, in essence, that decisions should be made for the benefit of people as a whole, nor that the sacrifice of morality is acceptable when doing so. Simply stated, from what I remember from my English Literature class, consideration for the minority of society should never take precedent over what's in the best interest of the whole of it.  It's one of several edicts of Machiavelli. I don't agree with it.
No. I don’t agree with or believe in that at all. I wish more people didn’t believe it either. I believe, as Christopher Reeve did that those who have the greatest need, need the greatest advocate.  I believe that those who have no voice, need the loudest one championing their cause.  I believe that not all things have equal advantage, and those in the "less than" column deserve to have the greatest defender of their rights.  I don't believe that individuals who live with disabilities, whose bodies have breaks and flaws are children of a lessor God.  And, I believe that it took a Super Man and his Devoted Angel to change that perception.  That's just what Christopher and Dana Reeve did.
I've not said it all, and I've certainly not said it perfectly.  Above anything that I've said with regard to stem cell research, though, I encourage everyone to investigate it for themselves and make up your own minds on the subject.  For me, there is no debate. I've made up my mind about it, and I come down on the side of the Reeves and Nancy Reagan, Michael J. Fox and countless others with a better grasp of it all than me.  Still, from what these notables have all said on the subject, and because they're respected members of their respective political parties, which are both represented here, I tend to agree with them.
Christopher Reeve, however, was the greatest and most definitive advocate on the subject, in my opinion, who once again, on a holiday weekend [Columbus Day] in 2004, experienced a life changing event.  Sadly, that time, heaven won, and we lost. I was both stunned and saddened when the news reported on Monday, October 11^th that Christopher Reeve had died the previous day of cardiac arrest that was brought on by an infection that he’d been fighting, which was common to those who are paraplegic.
"Oh, no!" I gasped. "No!"
Then, I cried.
There aren’t many celebrities who move me to such emotion or devotion. Christopher Reeve however was one of those exceptions. I had crushed on him for so many years.... 30 to be exact. My heart ached for his wife, Dana, their son, his other children, their friends and those of us who believed in heroes, because we lost one, on that day, with his leaving.
Today, Christopher Reeve would have turned 59. I can’t help but think, in this moment, of his words regarding heroes:
"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."
Yeah. That’s right. That’s exactly right, and boy, was he a hero! He’s a hero who lives on because, you see, heroes don’t die. They don’t fade away either. They endure. Christopher Reeve wrote the book on endurance.
The other day, I received an email from his son, Matthew, asking me to honor and celebrate his father today.  I thought a lot about that request. This probably isn’t what he had in mind when that email was sent to me, but I wrote out my check today to help keep Christopher and Dana’s dream rolling on – moving forward. I’ll get it in the mail tomorrow. Today, however, I honor and celebrate him with my words and reflections, because I loved this guy! I still do. He was bold; he was brilliant; and, he was beautiful! The memory of him is as dreamy as he was. Though we didn’t have him that long, we are all the better for the 52 years he spent here with us....we are ALL so, so much the better....

http://youtu.be/ffSy3-PJ5QI [Excerpt of Christopher Reeve on the Oscars, 1995]
http://youtu.be/jtFW5SRItR4 [Christopher Reeve on Letterman, circa 1998]
http://youtu.be/4z507jWH2Kc [Christopher Reeve’s last public speech/October 4, 2004]
http://youtu.be/tThjO6ORM2g [News Report of Christopher Reeve’s Death/October 11, 2004]
http://youtu.be/QOYIKw1NGSw [Superman~Five for Fighting]

To keep the dream of Christopher and Dana Reeve rolling forward, please go to their website and donate. www.christopherreeve.org

See also, The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.  You can find a detailed summary of the act on The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation website, but this is worth noting:

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act (CDRPA) was introduced in both the House of Representatives (H.R. 1727) in March 2007 and in the Senate (S.1183) in late April, 2007. The CDRPA is non-controversial and has strong bi-partisan support, led by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and, Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mary Bono (R-CA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL).

Happy Birthday, Christopher! Rest in peace with your beautiful angel, Dana...we miss you both; we love you more, and we remember you always...

                               I always loved this cartoon. It seems fitting to remember them both.