Why
Couldn't President Bush Just Say "I'm
Sorry?"
By Dr. Mel Glazer
WhIn the
most recent New York Times Sunday edition,
there was a poignant article at the end
of the Magazine section, written by Dr.
Abraham Verghese, a Professor at the
University of Texas Health Sciences Center
in San Antonio. Dr. Verghese had travelled
to New Orleans last week to treat those
Katrina refugees who needed medical assistance.
He shares with us his feelings of inadequacy
in attempting to give his patients not
only physical healing that their bodies
needed, but more importantly, emotional
healing and sustenance that their souls
craved. He felt that his mere words were
so empty of empathy, and he was totally
unprepared for the devastation he saw
on a human level.
Now I'll
tell you what the good doctor said that
moved me to
tears. He meets
an old sick man, a man with gnarled
fingers and toes, but a man with the
spirit of
life still crackling within him. He
tells the doctor what happened, how he
was
caught by the flood waters and had
nowhere to go for several long and exhausting
days. He waited and waited for help
to
come, but it was for naught. Finally
he was rescued and here he was, dry
for the first time in a week.
Patient: "Doc,
they treat refugees in other countries
better than thery
treated us."
Doctor Verghese: "I'm so sorry," I
said. "So sorry."
And that's
when my tear ducts gave way, for I realized
a simple truth that he
uttered with such sublime dignity. Listening
to comments to and about the flood victims;
to all the local and national political
leaders who "took responsibility" for
their abysmal human response to the hurricane;
at no time did I ever hear anyone say
to the victims "I'm sorry" for
what happened to you and your loved ones.
What
would it have taken for those simple
words of kindness to have been heard
by those who had survived by the skin
of their teeth?
Why couldn't
our elected officials find within themselves
these
simple words
of comfort?
Why was
it so hard form them?
What were
they thinking?
Of course
the flood victims knew that it was a
natural disaster that
caused
the waters of Hell cover them and their
homes. They knew this was not the fault
of any human being. But no one said "I'm
sorry," and so their human dignity
was washed away with their childhood
pictures and their stainless steel place
settings.
Was anyone
in fact truly sorry, or did the human
dimension of all this
fade
away into the political games that
were begun immediately.
Call me
a cynic, but also call me a man of hope.
When
there is no hope, I
look for it. And I found it in Dr. Verghese's
simple yet profound words. "I'm
so sorry," he said. "so sorry."
I'm sorry
too, but not just for those who had to
leave their homes and offices
and posessions and their feelings of
safety. I'm sorry that so many of our
leaders were unable to say "I'm
sorry." The survivors will yet create
a new life for themselves; they will
in time regain their dignity and their
humanity because they will be strong;
I wonder if our politicians ever will.
Dr.
Mel Glazer • Your Grief Matters
1.877.532-4246 (1.877.LECHAIM)
mel@yourgriefmatters.com •
www.yourgriefmatters.com
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Copyright
© Dr. Mel Glazer, 2005. All rights reserved.
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