Christopher Reeve Died yesterday. I have to admit that I was never a great fan of his acting career. (I thought he made a pretty good Clark Kent….) But I was very impressed with him as a person after I read his autobiography, Still Me. It was written after his accident that confined him to a wheelchair.

In it he writes,

“If someone were to ask me what is the most difficult lesson I’ve learned from all this, I’m very clear about it: I know I have to give when sometimes I really want to take. I’ve realized instinctively that it’s part of my job as a father now not to cause Will [his youngest son] to worry about me. If I were to give in to self-pity or express my anger in front of him, it would place an unfair burden on this carefree five-year-old. If I were to turn inward and spend my time mourning the past, I couldn’t be as close to Matthew and Alexandra[his older children], two teenagers who naturally need to turn to me for advice. And what kind of life would it be for Dana [his wife] if I let myself go and became just a depressed hulk in a wheelchair? All of this takes effort on my part, because it’s still very difficult to accept the turn my life has taken, simply because of one unlucky moment.”

Reeve started a foundation to raise funds for medical research and was hopeful that injuries like his can be cured. The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (http://www.crpf.org/) continues to work to that end and accepts donations on line or at:

Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
500 Morris Avenue
Springfield, NJ 07081
800/225-0292

Posted by tvansant