Lauren Lives

I meant to post this a few days ago, but got distracted as usual. Lydia didn't.

Back in February, I wrote about Lauren Richardson, and the battle in a Delaware court between a father who wanted (like the Schindlers) to take his daughter home to care for her, and a mother who wanted to "keep her promise" to the girl: that "life-prolonging" procedures would not be deployed should she, Lauren, ever become like Terri Schiavo. Well, she did, and the parents, divorced since Lauren's infancy, have been at war over her fate, and with guardianship awarded to the mother, a replay of the Schiavo drama - identical outcome included - seemed drearily inevitable . But something happened on the way to the murder.

Edith Towers, Lauren's mother, said that

...she originally felt bound by her promise to her daughter but she had doubts that grew as time went on. "I prayed for answers every day."

Something else happened, too:

For months, Towers said, she believed that there was no hope for her daughter, that there was no brain activity and whatever response her ex-husband saw was just a reflex.

But then, Towers said, she saw Lauren start to cry.

"She just started sobbing ... like when you are upset or happy."

Towers said it was clear to her that Lauren was expressing herself and was just having trouble getting anything out.

"She sobbed, and sobbed ... heavy from the chest," Towers said. "I held her and told her it would be OK. 'It's all going to be OK. You won't be left alone here anymore.' "

An odd reaction from a girl who, saith the court (convinced by expert testimony), is devoid of all consciousness. You can read about it here. Lauren will be going home to live with her father, though the mother is still primary guardian. It turns out, by the way, that this arrangement was arrived at privately, not through the auspices of the court. Grace may have been on the wing. If you want to peruse the Delaware court's decision, you can get it from Lydia's post.