Mom and I went to a movie last night. It was called, Travels with My Dad. It isn't totally finished yet or paid for, so the woman who made the movie, Jessica Gerstle, had some people watch it to make suggestions about how it might be better and how she might be able to raise money to pay for it.
The movie is about Jessica's dad, Claude. He had an accident when riding his bike and now he cannot walk or move his arms. A lot of times I wondered what life would have been like if you lived but couldn't walk or do a lot of things. This movie shows how hard life is for someone who cannot move.
Jessica and her dad are both amazing people. I am sure Jessica is proud of her dad. He is a warrior. Her dad has to be incredibly proud and thankful for a daughter like her. They are truly a beautiful family and the movie made me cry -- a lot.
Jessica wants the movie to help people understand why stem cell research is important. Some day, if they can get it to work, these cells may help people who can't walk and help people with all other sorts of problems.
You had a stem cell transplant to get your new blood. And we donated all of the embryos we created that didn't work to doctors to figure out a way not to need so many embryos to save kids like you. Those embryos have really special stem cells.
A lot of people have different ways of thinking about these special cells. It is really hard to make sure everyone is okay with what the doctors and the families want to do. We all just need to keep talking to each other, and to watch movies like the one Jessica is making so we understand how people can be helped.
Mom talked to people at Uncle Andrew's synagogue a week or two ago about all of this stuff. Here are some slides she showed.
I hadn't seen that picture of you from your heart surgery in a long time. That was pretty harsh. I just went and looked at your old website for the first time. We never updated it to say you died.
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