Christopher Reeve is dead! What a sobering thought.

Here is a man,..who could have literally become embittered and sat on his duff, and spent the rest of his life...mourning what he lost,..and he lost a lot!! He became an "over-night quad!"

A man,

..who was the epitome of physical perfection to the point that he was chosen to play the "folk hero,"..Superman;

..who was so athletic..that he did his own movie stunts,

..who was so daring that he tempted fate and did dangerous things...just for the thrill of it.

And,

...then,

..one day,

..he fell off the back of a horse,

..no less,

....and the thrills seemed to be over.

(Perhaps,..he counts..as a person,..who should have never been born???)

(I believe I can fly.....")

In the time that passed of Chris Reeve's short life,..52 years is not all that..old,..he addressed congress on behalf of victims of catastrophic illness,...continued as a loving father and took an active part in his family life, and was a person,.who was willing to go to bat for stem cell research when it was an unpopular cause!!

He spoke to large groups..(I heard him....(through a sign language interpreter) when I was a member of the Ohio Governor's Council On People Wth Disabilities at a "Solidarity Ohio Convention in Columbus, Ohio.

("I believe that I can touch the sky!!")

He was an excellent speaker. That's not bad for a man,..who depended on a respirator for almost every breath that he took!!

He stood up for life after it knocked him down and wrote books, became a director,..continued acting...(won a "Screen-Actors' Guild Award for a movie..."Rear Window",..I believe it was called,); brought tears to the eyes of the 1996 Avademy Awards Ceremony audience when he told them that they should be making movies about more "socially relevent issues;"..and did a host of so many things with his life after he fell..that I can't name them all..besides,...I'm crying as I write this.......

(I...make it up to Heaven's door,

...take my wings and fly..some more!!)

After Christopher Reeve,..Superman, fell,...and became a quadripelegic,..he became a SUPER MAN! I guess that Chris Reeve went ACHIEVED more sitting in a wheelchair..than most people get to even think about or even get to try to think about!!

He's free!:

No more gasping for every breath through a trach-hole..cut into his neck.

If, he was like many other quads,no more sitting and waiting for someone else to pass him a glass of water when he wants to drink, or pissing through a cather and hoping that there will be no bladder infection if the urine is cloudy.

No more bed sores, which can occur even with the best and most loving caregivers.

Let's face it..the man DID earn his wings!! I do believe that he is truly soaring now!!

Fly,..Chris!! Fly!!

SOAR!

.......Stanelle