A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo-A Lesson for Us All--By Terri's Family: Mary and Robert Schindler with Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo and Bobby Schindler (Book Review).(Book review)

What was it about Terri Schindler Schiavo and her tragic case that captivated the world? It's a question that I suspect many of you asked yourselves during the media firestorm that surrounded this long drama which ended in the dehydration and starvation death of a beautiful, courageous woman.

The answer is before our eyes. It was her humanity, her courage, and a will of iron that kept her alive in the face of determined efforts that began in 1998 to remove the tube that nourished her. And it was not only pro-lifers who were stirred by her helplessness. Disability rights activists told the world over and over again that if a severely brain-injured woman can suffer this ghastly fate, the same mentality that justified her death could be applied to other categories of people with disabilities.

We were equally captivated by the tenacity and unwavering love of her family. Bob and Mary Schindler, her parents, and Bobby Schindler and Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo, her siblings, were the models of loyalty. The Schindler family reminded us of what it means to be a family. And this made a permanent impression upon all of us.

But what happens when love isn't enough? Why did so many people want Terri to die? What would you do if it was your loved one with a disability who received an irreversible death sentence through a court order? These are the questions that Terri's family, the Schindlers, attempt to answer in their book, A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri SchiavoA Lesson for Us All.

Primarily written through the eyes of Terri's devoted mother, Mary Schindler, A Life That Matters begins March 30, 2005, the night before Terri died. Powerless to save their daughter and sister, a woman about to die after 13 days without food or fluids, the family endures an unspeakably sad and tumultuous night.

From the day of her tragic death, the book shifts to the day of her still unexplained collapse in 1990 which left her with severe brain injuries but not in a so-called "persistent vegetative state."

From there, A Life That Matters flashes back to fond memories of Terri's and her siblings' childhoods in suburban Philadelphia. The book then traces Terri's life as she grew up, eventually becoming the woman who is today recognized worldwide.