Carol and I are Blue Today

NMB, Florida November 30, 2001 A.H. Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.
CAROL AND I ARE BLUE TODAY
Carol and I talked early this morning. She did not sleep and I got up early
after a rough night. She called me as I sat at the computer keyboard and we
talked about how bad we feel about the injustice of Tony Schaivo getting
killed in an auto accident. It may have been a heart attack.

Anthony Schaivo (Tony or "Ducky") was one of my first students at Monmouth
College where he was preparing to become a teacher. That was about
thirty-five years ago. He was unlikely material because he was rough-hued
with language patterns hinting at a street kid's upbringing. He had a great
heart and listened to instruction and suggestions and became one of the best
candidates for teaching I ever had the pleasure of turning out. He was
loved as a teacher in the schools where he practice taught and eventually
taught as a regular teacher. He had rapport with kids and knew how to deal
with their problems. He was well liked by adults and loved by his students.

He received a Bachelor's degree and was declared educated. He knew enough
about life to want more than what teaching in a classroom could give him.
So he took his love for bicycles for a ride through the stages of learning
about them and then buying and selling in the three stores he eventually
created as, the PEDDLAR.

He worked too hard. Sue Young, a lady I met when I was putting on Puppet
Shows at Monmouth University, became a professor of Reading there partly
because of my pushing. She came down with the terrible Lou Gehrig's disease
and Tony was her support along with their two sons and her stepson, Mike.
She is left encased by a body that refuses to move and without recognizable
speech. Erin, her oldest, can usually translate. He also is credited with
making her quality of life tolerable.

Carol and I are blue today. The world will not be the same as it once was.
We stopped celebrating the boys' and my birthdays in September after Sue's
illness and then we moved away. But our hearts are still with Tony and his
family. They will always be special. Erin was for a time my spokesman at
the puppet shows when he was a little tyke. That family carved a special
place in our lives. Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.