The Princess, the Witch, and the Dragon

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there lived a princess, who was fair, kind, and loved by all who knew her.

Like every other story with a beautiful princess, our princess met her prince who is a mighty warrior and leader of men. Naturally, our princess and her warrior prince got married, planning to live happily ever after with their family yet to come.

Unbeknownst to them, however, a jealous witch cast a spell over them, calling upon an invisible dragon to take the life of their first-born, because the witch hated that the princess was living her dream come true.

Time passed and eventually a precious baby boy was born to our royal couple. As might be expected in a tale with a dragon sent by a wicked witch casting spells, the invisible dragon tormented the infant prince with its talons bearing down on his mother's belly while he was still in the womb, forcing him to be born prematurely. The tiny prince struggled valiantly for his very life under the blasts of the dragon's fiery breath, but, despite prayers and the best medical care, expired after only two days, leaving his parents bereft with grief.

Following the axiom that what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, our princess and her prince regained strength after the death of their beloved son, joining other families and individuals who have bonded together all across the land, vowing to march against the dragon so other parents won't have to suffer through the loss of their own children.

Spies have been hired to hunt down the wicked witch who has cursed other families in similar ways and troops are battling the dragon even as you read this true-life tale. With all the villagers helping to defeat these enemies, this story, too, will have a happy ending.

Please help Erica and Jim Davel honor Matthew's brief life by supporting their participation in their local March of Dimes March for Babies.

Did you know?

- Premature birth touches half a million babies and their families every year.

- Babies born prematurely are more likely to die or have lifelong disabilities.

- 120,000 babies are born with serious birth defects every year.

- Every baby deserves someone in their corner and the March of Dimes is there for them whether they are healthy or need help to survive.

Please join the Davels in the battle against premature birth and birth defects by walking with them or making a donation; the dragon and the wicked witch must be defeated.

For information on how you can help, please visit Matthew's team website:

http://www.walkamerica.org/matthewdavel.

Thank you.

[In response to Roxie's comment, I edited this post on April 5, 2008 to add the following:]

The March of Dimes maintains that it is neutral on the issue of abortion, that it does not see abortion as a solution to the problem of birth defects, and will not pay for abortions, directive abortion counseling, or abortion research.

However, according to the several entries I read on Google, some of which included copies of letters or policy statements from the March of Dimes, the March of Dimes believes that safe and legal abortions need to be available as every woman's right and that "therapeutic" abortion is an option, that is, aborting babies that prenatal testing determines to have birth defects, disabilities, and other abnormalities.

Because of the conflicting statements and actions, those who are opposed to eugenics and all abortions no matter what the reason, the March of Dimes is not likely an organization you'll want to support.

For those who sanction abortion only in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother, please be aware that some local chapters of the March of Dimes have ties to local health centers of Planned Parenthood which supports abortion for any reason. One watchdog stated that grants given to Planned Parenthood have been "for prenatal education services" which may or may not include abortion counseling.

If you wish to contribute to the cause, but not to the March of Dimes, please consider an alternative, pro-life, organization such as The Michael Fund or your local Children's Hospital.

To search the March of Dimes website:

http://search.marchofdimes.com/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe.