Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Regular readers may recall two "Profiles in Cowardice" articles I wrote about cowardly state lawmakers who found ways to reject the heartfelt appeals from veterans for help getting their medicine - medical cannabis. Rep. Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake) earned his profile in cowardice by rejecting his own Mary Powers-inspired conversion to compassion.
January 14 would have been Mary Powers' 52nd birthday. Mary was many things, an Army veteran, veteran's activist, wheelchair user, AIDS patient/activist, Hepatitis C patient, cancer patient, medical cannabis patient/activist, Secretary of the Madison chapter of the National Organization of Marijuana Laws (NORML), medical cannabis lobbyist. Mary was a dear friend to many, a confidant, and a rock. She endured way too much pain yet found ways to still show up and lift others spirits even if she had been up all night with extreme nausea.
A lifetime of being both a patient and a medical cannabis activist has put me in touch with many memorable and heroic people. These people, like myself, have discovered that cannabis is essential to not just having a quality of life and holding on to a little dignity, but actually in continuing to having a life, period.
While I can no longer dial her number and talk like we frequently did, Mary is still with me and those of us whose lives she touched, I'm grateful I was able to preserve some of the moments we shared in pictures and video.
In 2009, beginning on my birthday in late April, Mary in her wheelchair and I on foot, began regularly visiting Capitol offices to lobby and educate about medical cannabis and the then-forthcoming Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (JRMMA). By July our visits were weekly. Mary was always there waiting for me in the rotunda when I arrived.
As summer rolled on, Mary and I came up with an idea for a series of short videos documenting our efforts at the Capitol. The "Mary and Gary Show" would be "better than the Mike McCarthy show," Mary, a lifelong Green Bay Packer fan would joke, referring to a post game show by the coach of the team.
On August 11, 2009, we filmed the first movie, actually each using a different camera. Each week I would shoot footage and hurry home to edit it and upload it to YouTube. It was a labor of love. Soon there were Three, then Six and finally Seven. But seven were all there was going to be as Mary's condition took a turn for the worse. But not before she filmed M&G 7, on her last day at the Capitol, accompanied by her care provider and friend Sherry, an oxygen tank resting between her legs on her wheelchair.
It was an emotional day. I knew it was likely the last. We had been such a great lobbying team. We would weave our appeals together, instinctively knowing when to let the other make a point. Going forward, lobbying would never be the same or feel so natural and comfortable again.
Fifteen days later on Oct. 22, Jacki was talking to Mary's care provider Sherry who was watching over her. When Jacki came on the line again after taking an incoming call, Sherry told her Mary had passed on.
Mary was so sure that the JRMMA was going to pass she could "Smell the Victory" and that her efforts lobbying for it in her last days would not be in vain. Mary's efforts were certainly not in vain. The Wisconsin medical cannabis movement has blossomed. Most never knew Mary as they did not become active until after she was gone.
Six days after what would have been her 51st birthday, January 20, 2010, the Wisconsin medical cannabis movement held a memorial for her in the State Capitol rotunda that was followed by a lobby day. The memorial drew hundreds including Mary's brother and mother. Singer-songwriter Rick Harris performed his Jacki Rickert-inspired Wisconsin medical cannabis anthem, "Legal Medicine Blues." Al Baker, an Ojibwa drummer and carrier of sacred songs drummed and sang in a nod to Mary's Native American ancestry.
It was a scene the normally staid Capitol may have found a little exotic and moving. And while politics as usual postponed passage of a medical cannabis law in Wisconsin once again, what Mary Powers accomplished and how she approached life will forever stand as an inspiration to Wisconsin medical cannabis activists and anyone who truly understands compassion.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Gary Storck
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Contact: Contact | Examiner.com
Website: Wisconsin Medical cannabis profiles in courage - Mary Powers - born Jan 14, 1959 - Madison norml | Examiner.com
January 14 would have been Mary Powers' 52nd birthday. Mary was many things, an Army veteran, veteran's activist, wheelchair user, AIDS patient/activist, Hepatitis C patient, cancer patient, medical cannabis patient/activist, Secretary of the Madison chapter of the National Organization of Marijuana Laws (NORML), medical cannabis lobbyist. Mary was a dear friend to many, a confidant, and a rock. She endured way too much pain yet found ways to still show up and lift others spirits even if she had been up all night with extreme nausea.
A lifetime of being both a patient and a medical cannabis activist has put me in touch with many memorable and heroic people. These people, like myself, have discovered that cannabis is essential to not just having a quality of life and holding on to a little dignity, but actually in continuing to having a life, period.
While I can no longer dial her number and talk like we frequently did, Mary is still with me and those of us whose lives she touched, I'm grateful I was able to preserve some of the moments we shared in pictures and video.
In 2009, beginning on my birthday in late April, Mary in her wheelchair and I on foot, began regularly visiting Capitol offices to lobby and educate about medical cannabis and the then-forthcoming Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (JRMMA). By July our visits were weekly. Mary was always there waiting for me in the rotunda when I arrived.
As summer rolled on, Mary and I came up with an idea for a series of short videos documenting our efforts at the Capitol. The "Mary and Gary Show" would be "better than the Mike McCarthy show," Mary, a lifelong Green Bay Packer fan would joke, referring to a post game show by the coach of the team.
On August 11, 2009, we filmed the first movie, actually each using a different camera. Each week I would shoot footage and hurry home to edit it and upload it to YouTube. It was a labor of love. Soon there were Three, then Six and finally Seven. But seven were all there was going to be as Mary's condition took a turn for the worse. But not before she filmed M&G 7, on her last day at the Capitol, accompanied by her care provider and friend Sherry, an oxygen tank resting between her legs on her wheelchair.
It was an emotional day. I knew it was likely the last. We had been such a great lobbying team. We would weave our appeals together, instinctively knowing when to let the other make a point. Going forward, lobbying would never be the same or feel so natural and comfortable again.
Fifteen days later on Oct. 22, Jacki was talking to Mary's care provider Sherry who was watching over her. When Jacki came on the line again after taking an incoming call, Sherry told her Mary had passed on.
Mary was so sure that the JRMMA was going to pass she could "Smell the Victory" and that her efforts lobbying for it in her last days would not be in vain. Mary's efforts were certainly not in vain. The Wisconsin medical cannabis movement has blossomed. Most never knew Mary as they did not become active until after she was gone.
Six days after what would have been her 51st birthday, January 20, 2010, the Wisconsin medical cannabis movement held a memorial for her in the State Capitol rotunda that was followed by a lobby day. The memorial drew hundreds including Mary's brother and mother. Singer-songwriter Rick Harris performed his Jacki Rickert-inspired Wisconsin medical cannabis anthem, "Legal Medicine Blues." Al Baker, an Ojibwa drummer and carrier of sacred songs drummed and sang in a nod to Mary's Native American ancestry.
It was a scene the normally staid Capitol may have found a little exotic and moving. And while politics as usual postponed passage of a medical cannabis law in Wisconsin once again, what Mary Powers accomplished and how she approached life will forever stand as an inspiration to Wisconsin medical cannabis activists and anyone who truly understands compassion.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Gary Storck
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Contact: Contact | Examiner.com
Website: Wisconsin Medical cannabis profiles in courage - Mary Powers - born Jan 14, 1959 - Madison norml | Examiner.com
