Diane posted this to me last week.  You can go to the site and arrange to
send your shoes (if you can) and send a note.  They called me twice last
week and said they wanted to do a piece on me, but I don't know where or how
to access it.
Ray
----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda J Herman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2005 5:33 PM
Subject: "Walk a Mile in my Shoes"


> for Immediate Release Contact:  Contact: Tara McNally
> 212.645.6900 x 117
> [log in to unmask]
>
> As the Stem Cell Debate Heats Up in the Senate . . .
> One Man Urges President Bush To "Walk a Mile in My Shoes"
>
> Caretaker of Wife with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Asks
> Fellow Caretakers and Patients To Send Their Heartfelt Notes (and an Old
> Pair of Shoes) as a Message to the White House!
>
> (New York, NY) June 2, 2005 - In the past seven years, Eric Yaverbaum's
> life has changed in ways that he never thought possible. As his wife's
> Multiple Sclerosis progressed, he has started to consider things he never
> "saw" before, such as, why are some Doctors' offices not
> handicapped-accessible? He has started to question everything he always
> took for granted, from his relationship with his children (What do I tell
> them?), to finances (How can anyone afford to provide for a chronically
> ill loved one?), to security (Why me? Why her? If I do my best - is it
> enough?), and politics (What are stem cells? And why should I care?).
>
> As Yaverbaum and millions of other Americans, caretakers and patients
> alike, ask these questions - for the first time in his two terms,
> President Bush is threatening to exercise his veto on the bill that would
> expand public funding for stem cell research, a resource which suggests a
> potential cure for everything from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's and spinal
> cord injuries. If, like Nancy Reagan, Dana Reeves, or many lesser-known
> people, the President had to live with an illness in his home for a year
> or two, would he feel differently about this decision?
>
> He won't tell you about vacations. He won't tell you about long walks on
> the beach with the love of his life. He won't tell you about tomorrow.
> Twenty years after her diagnosis, Yaverbaum will tell you that the world
> is a strikingly different place -- and yet -- he will tell you how much
> more he likes the guy he sees in the mirror. He will tell you about the
> long, long list of people who help him at home so he can continue to earn
> a living. He will tell you how much he has grown from the experience of
> caring for his childhood sweetheart, best friend and mother of his
> children. And he will go on to tell you about his wife -- the only modern
> day heroine he has ever met.
>
> Despite his mental and physical exhaustion, to Yaverbaum, his wife's
> chronic illness was a blessing; he hopes to be exhausted for a very long
> time to come. "For years, so many wonderful well intentioned and
> supportive friends and visitors have come to our home to share in our
> experience and lives. But then they leave. My family spends seven days a
> week, 24 hours a day doing the very best we can to maintain a
> functioning, loving family unit. We've been doing it long enough now to
> know - until you "Walk a Mile" in our shoes - you cannot understand what
> it's like."
>
> Therefore, Yaverbaum is asking his fellow caretakers, patients, and
> friends to send the White House a message. As Yaverbaum states, "We can't
> have a 'Million-Caretaker-Walk in Washington! We have to be home when
> we're not working. But we can send the President a million pairs of our
> old shoes with an emotional and realistic note of what we do every single
> day. Maybe the volume of shoes or one of those notes might just sway his
> opinion? Could just one note make a difference?"
>
> Please send all shoes and notes for President Bush to:
>
> "Walk a Mile in My Shoes"
> c/o Jericho Communications
> 304 Hudson Street, Suite 700
> New York, New York 10013
>
> Yaverbaum will deliver the notes to the White House and donate all the
> shoes to charity -- but not before making sure the White House sees them!
>
> http://www.jerichopr.com/releases/jericho8.htm
>
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