Listeners Respond

More listeners wrote to National Public Radio about My So-Called Lungs than about any other story in memory. These are some of the emails listeners sent after hearing Laura's diary:

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Over the years I have listened to the recorded stories you have presented on "All Things Considered". Many of them have been interesting and instructive. The one you presented on Monday, August 5, 2002 by Laura Rothenberg, the cystic fibrosis victim, was in a category of its own. I am a 76 year old man and, I confess, tears rolled as I listened to her. This, folks, is not a story, it is an epic, related by a real, young woman, about reality. In her straightforward, unadorned, honest way, setting scenes of her experiences and feelings, hopes, fears, joys, aspirations during her hospital stays, she transcends the norms for reporting. With a wisdom that appears given only to those who know true suffering, her youthful voice conveys deep emotions without sentimentality, and a measured sense of humor about her fate. I did not know that youth can be so insightful and convey the true meaning of life so forcefully. We all can learn much from her. Thank you, Laura, for sharing, and may that newly implanted lung grant you the gift of life for many years to come.
Mareandi

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I'm a 20-year-old college student who is guilty of more than my fair share of cynicism, and it's rare that a story really touches me. What for her must be a luxury is something I take for granted every minute of every day. Her radio diary reminded me that I need to appreciate all those things I usually overlook. Laura, your courage and strength, your philosophical outlook and your sense of humor through what for me is unimaginable, is truly, sincerely, an inspiration. As hollow as I'm sure this sounds, I wish you all the best. And I don't mean to sound cliche, but you really are in my thoughts and prayers. Thanks, as well, to Joe Richman, All Things Considered, and NPR for bringing Laura's story to the airwaves.
Aaron

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I'm just writing to say that I heard the Laura piece yesterday on ATC. I just signed the organ donor release on the back of my driver's license because of it.
Alia

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Thank you for the story on the CF survivor Laura Rothenberg. I was stuck in heavy traffic with my 6-year-old son, both of us riveted to her oral diary. I cried and he asked such intelligent, compassionate questions during the program and in the days since. We've used her story as a terrific teaching tool.
Sheila Maul
Houston, Texas

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I was returning home from a funeral service of a women who passed away very suddenly from cancer when I heard "My So-Called lungs" on All Things Considered. I was so moved by the program and courage of this young women. I sat in my car parked in the driveway and cried listening to her story. It made me extremely grateful for my life and health, and made me think how much we all take for granted on a daily basis and how many special people in our lives we have let slip away. Laura mentioned that she is afraid that once she is gone she will be forgotten, I will never forget her. Please forward this message on to her if possible.
Lassigem

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Wow. I imagine this letter will be lost in a sea of reaction to NPR's captivating audio diary of Laura Rothenberg, a heroic young woman battling Cystic Fibrosis. So captivated I was in her tragic, but heartwarming account of life with CF, that I could not recall the drive home. I remain in awe of her spirit and hope Laura has some idea that heroes like her are an inspiration. ...Even to those of us lucky enough to have missed the ride with a cruel disease like CF.
Kirby Garrett
Gold River, CA

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Dear folks: Thank you very much for getting Laura's story out there. My beautiful beautiful daughter Olivia has CF, and she's only 8. In order for her to have a better chance than the kids born before her, people need to understand CF, and understand that a cure really is possible. Hope really is all we have. Sincerely,
Adam Davis

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I am the director of the respiratory care program at Columbia State Community College in Columbia Tennessee. For two years I pour facts and figures into students, require they can analyze and interpret all kinds of data as well as teach them to perform numerous skills.

It is too easy to forget our patients are people, someone's mother, daughter, father, child. After hearing your report about Laura, "My so-called lungs" the very next day I had the students sit around the computer and replayed her story for them. I do not want them to forget they are caring for people like themselves, people with hopes and fears. Unlike Laura, we are rarely faced with our own mortality. Good care requires objectivity, which requires clear thinking, which in turn requires a certain amount of distance. However our shared humanity demands a certain closeness. Thanks for the reminder.
Sincerely,
R. David Johnson
Program Director, Respiratory Care
Columbia State Community College

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Laura, you will not be forgotten. I have made a donation to the CF Foundation on your behalf, and I expect many others who were touched by your story will do the same. Good luck and God Bless You,
Carlos Lebron
Shawnee Mission, KS

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THAT was some piece. So intimate. It made me cry... Definitely don't think I will forget her.
PasteurUS

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It had started, maybe, a little before I turned the ignition switch on my car to begin the drive home. I was about to make a cell phone call and then stopped. I was transfixed by what I was hearing on the radio. So I listened as I drove home and, having pulled up in front of my home, sat in my car and listened until the piece ended. I got out of the car and met my wife coming out of the house. She had been listening too and told me she couldn't leave the kitchen. Thank you for doing it. This is what radio is for.
Patrick Sheehy

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I was very moved to listen to you and your recording. Your strength of character moves well beyond your years. I am 60 and have nursed my 83 year old mother thru this past year of aging and the complications of aging. You have the wisdom of an 80 year old and I wish you many more years. You will never be forgotten by your family and friends and with radio diaries by scores more. You are in my thoughts. Thank you for the story you have told. My regards to your parents. With love,
Maxine Lubow,
Washingtonville, NY

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