What Is Up With This World?

After returning from my weekend trip to visit my parents in East Feliciana Parish, I was so frustrated with everything that I just sat down and cried. Mark was so upset, that he nearly cried with me – and may have when I left the room – I really cannot be sure. We have all been watching my mom go through pure hell with the paraplegia that resulted from the MRSA (staph) infection from 2008. She went from being as sharp as a tack to not knowing if she is coming or going from one minute to the next. On top of that, she is paralyzed and is, for all intensive purposes, bedridden. She cannot take care of herself. She cannot dress herself or anything else. For those of you who know us, you know the situation that took place last year with my mom. The hardest thing I have ever had to do is watch her waste away while all of the doctors stood around scratching their heads; the second hardest thing I have had to do is watch my dad go through the grief in connection with her newly found condition, his loneliness of not having her around after forty-eight years old marriage (or at least on April 9, 2009, it will be forty-eight years) and the frustration in dealing with this so called healthcare system here in Louisiana or dare I say, our country. This is just not what was supposed to be – we claim to be the greatest country in all of the world (and I do agree that we are), but we allow our citizens to receive substandard care at premium prices and we allow senior citizens to be threatened to be thrown out of nursing homes, only to be taken home to waste away. For those of you with whom I have not yet spoken, that is basically what is about to happen to my mother, if something does not give by the end of March. This just cannot happen. It just cannot.

After several tries and several times of being turned down, we find that my mother is still not eligible for any type of assistance in connection with long term care costs, which are thousands of dollars per month, in addition to her other medical expenses. Certainly a retired man of seventy-three years old cannot be expected to continue writing thousands of dollars in checks a month to pay for her care. He is not a millionaire and even if he were, it would not be long before every penny he has to his name has been paid to the nursing facility and healthcare providers who continue treating her on a regular basis. It is just unbelievable that in this country, this is how we allow our senior citizens to be treated. Both of my parents were extremely hard workers who did everything they were “supposed to do” and then some, only to now reach their so-called “Golden Years” to find out that not only are those years not going to be so “golden”, but that they will be pure hell. Both of my parents came from a long line of hardworkers, most of whom were more highly educated that their counterparts. They just had the terrible luck of falling somewhere in between, in terms of their earning ability. They were not rich and they were not poor, thus it is as if they are penalized for this. I watched my father cry in despair on Saturday; this just broke my heart into a million pieces. He was so frustrated that was all he could do. The realization that his years of hard work and taking care of his family and community was for naught, had just hit him like a ton of bricks. Things just should not be like this. You should not work all of your life to find out that you wasted your time, because had you taken the easy road and been a deadbeat who did not contribute anything useful to society, you would qualify for every benefit out there, without having to lift a finger – that because you acted responsibly and got married, had children and the white picket fence, that in your latter years, you would pay dearly for doing the right thing. It is just not fair and the time has come for this to change and change quickly.

Below is an excerpt from a letter we e-mailed and mailed via First Class U. S. Mail to President Obama. We copied Michelle Obama on the letter. We do not know if it will ever be reviewed or if we would have a stroke of luck that would allow for the review of the letter, if anything would ever become of it, but I suppose it was at least worth a try. Wish us luck!

March 1, 2009

President Barack H. Obama
c/o White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.

Dear President Obama:

We are writing to ask if you could please provide us with assistance. We are "middle class" citizens who come from a long line of "middle class" citizens - parents, grandparents and the like - relatives who worked hard, paid taxes and acted as responsible Americans. Unfortunately, because of this we are unable to get ahead in these modern times. Each of us acted responsibly and took advantage of educational opportunities afforded us and following our education, we entered the workforce and have been fortunate enough to remain gainfully employed since that time.

Despite doing everything we were "supposed to do", it seems that we just cannot get ahead. We live paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford to miss even a few days of work. We struggle to meet our basic needs, despite both being employed and earning well above minimum wage. It seems as if we are penalized by the federal and state governments because we fall somewhere in between low income wage earners and those who earn a great deal in wages. While we are thankful for everything we do have, we struggle to deal with everyday life. In addition to everyday life becoming increasingly hard at a very rapid pace, we are dealing with my mother's illness, while attempting to navigate the healthcare system. My mother was a vibrant, sharp woman until about nine months ago. She fell ill due to a staph infection (MRSA) and became a paraplegic. After being hospitalized for months, my dad was forced to put her in a nursing home. They were already basically living hand to mouth and he was then forced to pay thousands of dollars per month for her long term care. They applied for MEDICAID, but were turned down. Between their retirement and Social Security income, they receive less than $2,000.00 per month (total). The nursing home care alone far exceeds their monthly income, even before any necessary household bills are paid. They recently reapplied and will most certainly be rejected, as nothing has changed with their finances. We are now faced with the horrible thought of my dad having to bring my mother to live at home. She requires twenty-four hour nursing care, as she cannot bathe herself or even go to the bathroom. She is paralyzed and can only be mobile through partial use of a wheelchair. There is no possible way that my dad can take care of her at home, however he will likely have no choice. My dad is seventy-three years old and in poor health himself.

My mother is a seventy year old Louisiana resident. She worked all of her adult life and if the truth be told, most of her youth as well. Her mother was one of the first female business owners in Clinton, Louisiana, located in rural East Feliciana Parish. Her father was an engineer employed with our state. My father was the son of a Methodist preacher and his mother was an educator. Both of my parents attended college and both worked all of their lives. They waited years after marrying before starting a family; this was so they could be financially capable of raising children on their own. This just should not happen to them. We know life is not fair, but what they are dealing with now is past unfair. If they had been irresponsible people who did not contribute fully by working, paying taxes, etc., they would be afforded the best this country's healthcare has to offer - my mother would not be facing the daunting future she now faces. Why are they in essence, being penalized for being responsible? There has to be something that can be done. There just must be something, however we have been unable to find it.

Please, President Obama, please help us find a solution to this, and all of our other problems. We deserve it and we believe you are the first politician in a long time who is capable of addressing such ills on a national level. Please help us. Any response you can provide to us would be greatly appreciated.

God Bless You.



Arlene E. Culpepper
Mark A. Hebert, Sr.
[Address & Telephone Number Removed For Privacy Purposes]

cc: Mrs. Michelle Obama