Count down has begun. Again. - I arrived this afternoon at the Hospice Center where Terri Schiavo is now waiting to die from starvation.
I borrowed a friend's small digital camera and grabbed the following pictures.
This first picture is at the end of 102 Avenue on which the Hospice House is located. You can see some officers to the left. The orange temporary fencing to the right is in front of a school. The center is in the distance to the left where you can not see it in this photo.
Here's a picture of some of the press tents and the antennas from the trucks. I counted eight antennas overall, not to mention the FOX helicopter that flew over for about fifteen minutes.
This picture is from in the midst of the those there showing their support. This group is located to the West of the drive way leading into the Hospice center. They were being led in reciting the Rosary and the Lord's Prayer.
This woman is being asked to get out of the street by a police officer. The woman just arrived and didn't know that all the folk there needed to be on the grass. The sign she's holding said on one side, "Let's stop feeding Michael." On the other side it asked a number of questions like how did Terri get in the state she is and one that I thought was particularly unkind to the children that Michael has fathered with the woman with whom he is living. I was pleased to hear another woman say that she thought that was unkind too. The woman was happy to move and thanked the officer for telling her where she needed to stand.
Here's a picture of the front of the Hospice center.
Here's another two shots of the crowd.
These two pictures are of the group of Terri supporters that were positioned to the East of the driveway entrance. Sorry for the blurriness. Many of these folk had red tape over their mouths in imitation of the inability of Terri to speak for herself. There was a large crowd of media set up around this group because many of the organizers were here and also there was a microphone stand set up for the organizers and all the MSM networks to use.
There was a handful, somewhere between 3 and 5, people there in support of ending Terri's life by starvation. When I was here I would guess that there was about 100 to 150 supporters. It's hard to get a good feel of all that were there because there was a large contingent of media folk, police, and a great deal of traffic.
But I do know that there were people there from all walks of life and denominations.
One man gave a powerful prayer acknowledging that God is the God of miracles and that all things are possible through Him. He then led us in singing Amazing Grace.
Overall the mood was good and the majority of people there wanted to come and show their support for the Terri. There was a fair number of people driving by too. One fellow had this small camper decked out in signs and he regularly drove up and down the street in front of all.
People brought their children and sat on the grass on blankets or lawn chairs.
It was mentioned that the subpoena had arrived earlier in the day and that many were glad of it. Around 2 o'clock the number of people decreased because I think they thought that the pulling of the tube had been averted by the subpoena.
A little later word leaked out that Terri's parents who were inside with Terri had been asked to leave her room. No reason was given to us. Things still appeared well and I made my way home with these pictures only to hear that they have pulled Terri's tube in spite of the subpoena.
I Pray Lord, that You will have mercy upon her and may Your will be accomplished in her life and in our lives. Amen.
