Bill Colby and Terri Schiavo

Bill Colby is the attorney who represented Nancy Cruzan’s family in the landmark case of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 261 (1990).

In Terri Schiavo’s Gift, J. Nat’l College Prob. J., Fall 2005, at 10, Mr. Colby explains:

But what if in a happier time, just once while standing over a backyard grill, Terri and Michael Schiavo and Terri’s parents * * * had talked about Nancy Curzan?  For five minutes?  For two minutes?  Would Terri Schiavo have spared her husband and her parents the unbearable dispute and grief they’ve had to endure?  Don’t we owe that five minutes to the people we love?

Terri Schiavo’s tragic story gives the rest of us an opening to start that talk over our own backyard grills. And that, is her gift to us.