From Tom LaVenza:   I know, it's too long.  Bush will never read this.

Thank You Mr. President

 There are many times throughout our lives that each of us is faced with
different obstacles to overcome. Some of these obstacles, otherwise known as
"life-altering events," often change the route we had intended to take as we
journey down these mysterious roadways of life. Granted some are more
altering than others, but nevertheless, each person will evaluate their own
based on the challenges they perceive and decide for themselves how to
overcome this obstacle.

 My "life-altering event" presented itself approximately 3 years ago. That
was the day I was told, at the ripe old age of 44 that I was in advanced
stages of Parkinson's. I knew something was wrong simply because of all the
things that had been going on inside my body as I was progressing towards
the ultimate diagnosis. When I looked back at my past 10 years or so, I
realized that this has been coming on for quite some time. But as most men
do with doctors; we avoid them.

 I am sure as readers peruse this column; there will be some that think I am
nothing but a bitter man spewing his anger in pen. You are both right and
wrong. I do not sit here with pen in hand hoping to gain pity from those of
you who are indifferent to the disease nor empathy from those of you who
have seen my daily struggles. This is Parkinson's and yes, there are many
other maladies out there that would rank much higher in the column of
debilitating diseases. I am grateful I do not have any of them yet.
Fortunately for those who suffer from Parkinson's, we have the Michael J.
Fox's of the world coming forward and making a difference in the amount of
funding P.D. research is now receiving. I am also not sitting here writing
this article with the intention of turning my back on the Christian
community nor my personal walk with God.

 However, I am sitting here confused and angry that one man can pretend to
know what this disease has or will eventually do to me. When one man can,
with the swift stroke of a pen, alter the lives of so many people seeking
help is not only ignorant and ludicrous but borders dangerously on the edge
of insanity. The endless possibilities of Embryonic Stem Cell research could
lead to the potential cure of so many diseases. I realize the key words
being written here are "possibilities" and "potential" and undoubtedly will
be attacked by others in their quest to support this decision. For those of
you who seem to bathe in the idea that this veto has some how been an
amazing breakthrough in protection of the innocent unborn, it confuses me.
It confuses me as I write this because I realize that anything I say will
come off as anything but mere rhetoric or "whining" as some would call it.
It angers me to think that we can use public money to support alcoholics,
smoking programs and drug addiction camps, (all of which are self induced)
but we cannot support something that any of us have control over. Call it
what you may, but my prayer is that the  President and Senators of this
country and all those who supported this veto, is that you never get
afflicted with a disease that could ultimately be cured by this type of
research.

 The President's comments about the children in the room all came from
embryonic cells that had been frozen and saved, is in my mind contradictory
to very reasons he used to veto the bill in the first place. When I hear
people talk and say that using frozen embryonic cells to help aid in
research is not moral as God did not intend for it to happen that way, then
I pose the same question back to them. If God meant for man and woman to
procreate then how is it any more ethical to use an unnatural way such as
frozen embryonic cells? This is certainly not the natural way of things nor
is it the way God intended it to happen. How is freezing embryonic cells for
later use, if decided, any different than trying to play God himself? That
is hypocrisy at it best.

 What angers me is that these cells are going to be destroyed anyway. It
borders on the line of insanity to say we are not welcome to them because it
crosses "decent" lines that Americans must respect. It is no different than
taking a person stricken by hunger and holding a bag of food in front of
him, dropping the bag on the floor and then telling the poor man, "I am
sorry but I cannot legally give you this bag of food as I dropped it on the
floor!"

 Perhaps it is cloning that you are afraid of happening. If so, then monitor
it closely and make it next to impossible to purchase for anything other
than its intended use. I am confused by those who claim the embryo is a
human. If so then why is it legal to freeze this human? If by some reason
there are those who still think I am wrong then what would you think if my
own wife had her embryonic cells frozen for use in research for her own
husband? Or what if all of these unused cells are going to be destroyed
anyway, at least allow the people who donated them the ability to let
science research them. I am angered by those who claim the President was
right in his decision when you have never walked a step in my shoes.
Whatever the issues may be that led our President and those of you who
supported him for this veto, ask yourself one question. What would life be
like living in the shoes of someone with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and
Diabetes, spinal cord injury and/or the many other diseases that could
ultimately benefit from this research? There are many things in this world
that can hurt us physically such as cigarettes but yet we don't ban the sale
of them. No instead we fund programs to aid them in their pain.

 As I watched in disbelief as the President made his speech, I couldn't help
but notice a young man in the background holding a young child. The smile on
this man's face was the same shared by millions of people, myself included,
as we held our young children in our arms. I can no longer do that. My arms
are too weak and I am afraid I will fall. That is a part of my life I shall
never see again. You see, while all of you who supported our President in
his decision don't and won't realize is that this young boy gets the luxury
of watching his father continually decline while he is growing up. He may
not get the luxuries that are afforded all of you who know of no affliction
such as this. I wondered aloud, as I sat stone-faced and watched the man
holding his child, just how far he would go if his child suffered from
something that modern medicine could ultimately have a cure for but because
of society's fear of the unknown, she would never see it.

 Amazingly enough I agree with the President on one point. We can never
allow people to start promoting abortions or anything of that nature in
order to gain the stem cell tissue. But these are cells that are frozen.
They are not life. They cannot sustain life on their own and only with man's
interference will they ever become anything but a cell. I agree with the
President when he said all of the children in this room were brought about
by the embryonic cell. I question again, how many would be there if science
had not been allowed to explore that avenue! It is truly a gift from God
that man has the ability to do things such as this. So you support the
possibility of life from the frozen embryo but then turn around and condone
the killing of it when they are destroyed. Once again, Hypocrisy at it's
best.

 So you support the idea of possible life with the embryonic cells but turn
a shoulder to those of us already on this earth suffering from something
that could ultimately be fixed. There are millions of people, yes living
people, who might be helped through this research. It has been proven that
there is a direct link to this kind of research and the possibilities it
holds for diabetics, Alzheimer and Parkinson's patients as well as those
with spinal cord injuries and many other afflictions.

  Remember, I am a Christian and although many literary masterpieces found
in the St. Johns version of the Holy Bible are what guide me through life, I
cannot help but feel anger today. I am angry because one man, not God
himself, but man made the decision to stop the possibility of easing my
pain. God obviously gave man the ability to think and reason beyond that of
any other animal and he has done that for so many people who could not
conceive the natural way. Now he has given man the ability to help those of
us who are ailing but has chosen instead to turn his head on this.

 I realize there are many of you reading this stand on the side of the
President and applaud his decision. I applaud the fact that this is America
and you have that right to your opinion. It got me to thinking back when I
was first diagnosed, how a member of my church came to me with concerns that
I would now change my beliefs in this great debate. At the time, I was
experiencing problems but none so great that I could fully understand the
impact this disease would have on me or my family. Parkinson's is often
classified as a slowly degenerative condition of the body which causes
tremors, stiffness and eventual immobility. I get to be one of those that
are just a little more special than a lot of Parkinson's patients as mine
has progressed relatively fast in its course. I am also in a unique class of
P.D. patients called the younger generation. Young Onset Parkinson's is now
starting to see more and more people around the age of 40-45 coming forward.
Not that I am any more special than those elderly to me but I still have a
very young family to raise.

 I say this to those who stand in defense of the Presidents decision. You
are justified in your beliefs and sadly enough, I too was on your side until
3 years ago. Now, when I have to have my eldest son help me out of bed or
see the look in my 4 other children's eyes as their Dad tries to get up the
stairway at the end of a long day, or struggle to get up from a chair, I
realize just how wrong I was to be on the "other" side. I see this in my
wife's eyes as she helps me button my shirts each morning as my medicines
have not kicked in yet.

 This being especially hard for someone who was used to jogging up to 5
miles daily. No longer. Now I have trouble walking around our malls for much
more than an hour with out constantly needing to sit down and rest. I could
continue my pity party for easily two or three pages more but I will spare
you all the agony of my obvious failure at literary composition. However, I
am one of the lucky ones. My meds actually do great things for me when they
are working. In fact, they are so efficient that many would not know I had
Parkinson's disease. I can still play the game I love most and that is golf.
So for all the advancements they have made in medicines, I will be forever
grateful. But medicines only do one thing. They mask the problem. Now we
have a chance to take that mask off forever and it will have to wait until
the day another President can be elected and hopefully he/she will be more
understanding of what people are actually going through.

 So I close with one message to our President, our Senators and Congressman
who supported your decision. When you made the statement that a vote
for .... decent people of this country. I have never met a Parkinson's,
Alzheimer's, Diabetic, Spinal Cord Impaired or cancer ridden person who is
not a "decent" human being. Please define for me what "decent" actually
means. So with all due regrets I would simply say as I close this chapter,
"Thank you Mr. President for all you did for me today!"

 To: Senator Tom Harkin, thank you for trying.

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