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Without being just another voice -- let me say this was wonderfully written; filled me once again with the desperate feelings of helplessness that I felt through all of this tragedy and was so terribly informative.

Because of my extreme depression about this, I did not read all of the threads and your revelation about parents with children with disabilities really touched my soul.

I have a cousin John, who was damaged after birth, who is now in his early thirties, who has never been institutionalized and has never been able to think cognitively about anything but the love of his petite Mom and his family of Dad, siblings, and a huge family who loves him. His smile is radiant and we all tell him of our love for him whenever he is around, whether in his specially made chair or in his Mom's arms. John is spoon fed baby food (first stage is all he can handle). Terri's face so resembled John's inner joy in all of those pictures and it came very close to home and family whenever I saw her picture.

Thank you for your eloquent post and God Bless you my fellow Catholic for being there for me and others just like me.