Celebration of Life

Grapes are life: usually juicy and sweet, but sometimes unexpectedly bitter

Over two years ago my elder son was diagnosed with leukemia.  He had multiple stays at the hospital as they tried to bring up his numbers, one stay for over a month.  Other visits were shorter but just as difficult.  They started his chemotherapy while he was still in the hospital, and then continued it on an outpatient basis.  Since then he has reported to his oncologist, at first weekly and slowly over time it has stretched to every six weeks.  His doctor recently declared my son is now in remission.  He could remain in remission forever and die of old age.  His cancer could progress and come out of remission and the battle over his life would continue.  It's all part of the unknown.

But this I do know for fact: without the Affordable Care Act, my son would either still be very ill or dead.

So it is with great pleasure and relief that the Supreme Court saved the controversial health care law.  According to CNN.com, the ruling holds that the Affordable Care Act authorized federal tax credits for eligible Americans living not only in states with their own exchanges but also in the 34 states with federal marketplaces. It staved off a major political showdown and a mad scramble in states that would have needed to act to prevent millions from losing health care coverage.

"Five years ago, after nearly a century of talk, decades of trying, a year of bipartisan debate, we finally declared that in America, health care is not a privilege for a few but a right for all," Obama said from the White House. "The Affordable Care Act is here to stay"

"Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them," Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "If at all possible, we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter."

 I joyfully celebrate life and good health.

peace~~~