This Thanksgiving, Please Pass The Praise

By Katie Schmidt

This Thanksgiving, my father will open his electric garage door on the ground floor of my parents' split-level home and ride his motorized wheelchair up the ramp in the backyard and into the second-floor dining room, where he will join us at the table.

Without the health care he receives from the VA, or Veterans Health Administration, there would be no wheelchair, no garage door, no wheelchair ramp and no Thanksgiving dinner with family around the table.

I was 10 years old when my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After dinner one night in our Long Island home, he told me and my three older brothers about his illness. The symptoms came on slowly. First, he walked with a slight limp. A decade later, he was forced to rely on a wheelchair.

My father, who served during the Vietnam War, began his relationship with the VA in 2002, three decades after being separated from active duty. He served three tours in the Navy as a communications specialist, and it was not until the early 1990s that he felt the full impact of his service when he was diagnosed with MS, believed to be a result of his exposure to the powerful herbicide Agent Orange. My dad has partial use of one arm and only limited feeling in his other arm and legs. In VA terms, he is catastrophically disabled.

Before the VA, my father received limited care for his condition. In the '90s, he left his career as an accountant to launch a business. When his investment partner died suddenly of a heart attack, the business went with him. For some time, my father was unemployed. My mother worked full-time at an orthodontist's office, and she had basic health coverage. With three sons in college and a teenage daughter immersed in extracurriculars, my parents put their kids' needs first.

It was my great uncle Abe, with decades-long experience in working the system, who finally persuaded my dad to take a trip to the VA office. While others let the bureaucracy of the VA intimidate them, my father dedicated himself to learning policy minutiae. Arriving at the VA office for an early morning appointment, he would spend the afternoon roaming the hallways, seeking insight from every social worker, nurse, administrator and veteran he encountered.

Eventually, the VA recognized a connection between my father's condition and his time in combat. Then, his entitled benefits - discounted medication, a wheelchair - trickled in.

My father served his country, and now his country is helping him stay well. The government is by no means giving him a free ride; he has worked hard to navigate this new life and find stability. Like VA care, President Obama's public option is just that, an option. Government-sponsored programs will never be perfect, but they can provide a choice for people like my dad who, otherwise, have few choices. And it's my hope that like my father, the American people will be patient and steadfast in using this opportunity for a better health care system to find wellness in their own lives.

When we sit around the table and enjoy our government-sponsored Thanksgiving, we will clink our glasses to good health. Or at least a fighting chance.


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--- --- Walt Schmidt Veteran Services Officer 
- - --- TOBay's Veteran Services Division 
- - - - "Let No Veteran Ever Stand Alone!" 
--- --- WorkDayTime: 516.797.7875 & 24/7 Voice Mail 
- - --- Anytime: 24/7 Voice Mail 516.799.8300 
- - - - Website: http://www.waltsdorsai.net/ 
Ken Sun - Weekly Column: http://experts.longisland.com/ veterans

"To know yet to think that one does not know is best; 
Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty." 
- Lao-Tzu 71:1 

Here is a new way to look at a deck of cards!!

Deck of Cards

It was quiet that day. The guns, mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard.
The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week.
As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.
Just then an army sergeant came in and said, 'Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?'
The soldier replied, 'I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.'
The sergeant said, 'Looks to me like you're going to play cards.'
The soldier said, 'No, sir .. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.'
The sergeant asked in disbelief, 'How will you do that?'
'You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments
The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John .
The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.
The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.
The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives -