European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 07, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Lacey finds Relief and her cat after an incredible journey by Gary Miller Mediterranean bureaus -1-1-year-old Lacey Jansen Rode with her Mother to the Memphis Airport All she expected was to meet family friends. But Friday nov. 13, was Lacey s Lucky Day. And 1992 was her Lucky year. The real reason for her trip to the Airport was to be reunited with her Long lost cat Earl. She last saw the wayward feline seven months ear Lier in Rota Spain when he bolted from her arms hours before the Jansens left the country for their next duty station. The Jansens were having a final housing inspection of their Home in government quarters in naval station Rota. Lacey became concerned about Earl cooped up in his Kennel for such a Long flight and decided she should take him out on a Leash Lacey s Mother Sherry later wrote to the naval station newspaper. All the activity spooked Earl and he took off with his Leash still attached to his Collar. The Jansens frantic efforts to find the panicked cat during the time they had left was to no Avail. On the military charter flight Lacey and Sherry both cried almost All the Way from the Spanish base to Philadelphia. When we landed and walked past the pets All lined up for the owners to claim it broke my heart Sherry wrote. The Jansens went to Memphis where Sherry s husband Bill a Navy Petty officer first class is an instructor at the naval aviation technical training come. While Sherry empathized with her daughter s sense of loss she was also concerned for Earl who for is Sherry Jansen Lacey Jansen and her Funy Friend Earl. She feared would catch his Leash on something and slowly die of hunger and thirst. But it was Lacey s response to losing Earl that worried Sherry most. Lacey s Luck with pets had been bad and it seemed that Earl had become another chapter in that Story. While living in key West fla., before moving to Rota Lacey lost her first Kitten when it was hit by a car. A second cat died of feline leukaemia. Henry the third cat Lacey adopted during the Jansens time in key West not Only survived but also formed a special relationship with the Young Ster. We got him rescued him As a starved to death wild stray about 3 we Clos old Sherry stated describing Henry. He never relaxed except in Lacey s arms. The trip to Rota would have been too much for him she added. So Lacey reluctantly gave Henry to her grand Mother based on a Promise from her parents that she could get another cat in Rota. When we got to Rota we could t find a Kitten anywhere Sherry wrote. When you re looking for one you can t find one it the Jansens saw a picture of Earl on a Bulle tin Board at the Navy Exchange. She fell in love with him on the spot Sherry wrote of her Daugh Ter s reaction to Earl s the Little girl who had lost or Given lip past feline friends and faced adjusting to a new Home quickly bonded with the neglected and abandoned cat ". Their relationship made the fact that Lacey was watching Earl when he escaped All the More painful for the youngster Sherry wrote. What the distraught Jansens did t know until they reached Memphis was that their neighbors in Rota Sam and Carol Hernandez found Earl when he returned to what was by then his empty House. Earl was still frightened and the Hernandezesc caught him Only to have him escape several times. Several neighbourhood people helped catch him Sherry said during a Telephone interview. A lady who lives across the Street who feeds All the neigh boyhood strays put a lot of Effort into catching him once they found out Earl was Safe and sound in Rota the Jansens still faced the Challenge of finding a Way to transport Earl from Spain to Tennessee. That s Why Sherry wrote the naval station no spa per to find someone transferring to Memphis who was willing to bring the wayward cat along. Rota s Public affairs officer it. Rebecca Colonna took the task of reuniting Earl and his Young owner As a personal Mission. At one Point in Early october Colonna thought she had everything ready to ship Earl unaccompanied Only to discover that the cat s rabies vaccination had expired. That meant he would have to stay in Spain another month. By the time Earl was ready to travel again so were the Hernandezesc who had received orders to Hawaii. They volunteered to drop Earl off on the Way. It was a Promise they were almost unable to keep thanks to Earl. When the packers came three Days before the Hernandezesc were scheduled to leave Rota Sherry said Earl took off again. But this cat proved he has multiple lives. He ended up in Lacey s arms after All which is Why the Jansens figure they had a Good 1992. The inner Rise of paralysed Rodolfo Sioson by Sharon Cohen the associated press she says the worst is Shock has worn off the fears have faded year one has was a year with no privacy no Freedom and no Way of forgetting what happened a year in which a 300-Pound wheelchair became a life line for a Young woman who discovered that strength has Little to do with muscle and everything to do with survival. Her name is Miya Rodolfo Sioson and for a few fleeting Days she held the nation s attention not for her accomplishments or her activism but for her Ter Rible misfortune. She was the sole survivor of a murderous spree at the University of Iowa that left six people dead including the gunman. The Public chapter of her Story faded quickly. But in the year since there has been a private epilogue a tale of a victim of violence starting Over learning to Cope without the use of her arms and legs to live and thrive in a world of loss and limitation. I Don t think i m that Brave she says most people Given the situation like mine would pull through too. It s either do that or you just die. There s always something Worth living for her it s her passion for human rights struggles a Al Salvador she plans a trip there in the Spring to help film a documentary. And it s her studies she s taking two Spanish courses toward her second undergraduate degree. She has always been determined says Hermoth or Sonya a former professor. That has been enhanced. It s As if she said so you throw a big Rock in my path. You think i m not going to climb it i m going to climb it she s got her Chin in her she s really taken hold of the reins her Mother says. She s Well on her Way to making something of her but it will be far different from what Rodolfo Sio son planned before that november Day in 1991 when she faced the rage of a stranger a disgruntled Doc toral student determined to kill those he believed had denied him a $2,500 academic prize. She was not in his plans. She was working in a temporary Job on the Iowa City Campus a cruel coincidence she has accepted with surprising equanimity. But year one As a quadriplegic has not been As easy to accept. Call it a period of adjustment. No longer can she be the fiercely Independent soul who As a 7-month-old baby snatched the spoon from her Mother so she could feed herself. Or the fastidious student who when growing up would do her school papers Over and Over until they were pre Cise and neat enough to meet her standards. Now others including three housemates Brush her Teeth Wash her face comb her hair. They dress her feed her put her in bed and lift her out. They take her notes in class. They Are the doers she s the director and that sometimes rankles her even though she once worked As a personal attendant for disabled Stu dents. I m still a perfectionist the soon to be 25-year old student says with a shy smile. Nobody who works for me is going to be As compulsive about things As i am so i m going to have to let things slide sometimes and let them do it their no longer can she be the Young woman in a hurry. Her close Friend Housemate and personal care attendant Jacque Gharib recalls that before the shooting Rodolfo Sioson often was the first to phone her in the morning the last at night brim Ming with ideas the impatience of youth has been tempered by a new reality. Trips to a class in a Van must be scheduled. Some places such As loud bars Are off limits her soft voice weakened by her paralysis is barely audible. No longer can she enjoy cycling and dancing per forming occasionally with a local palestinian dance troupe. Not being Able to hug people bugs me some times she says sitting erect by her Long hair flowing Down the Back of her chair. You feel like there s a Barrier Between you and some but Rodolfo Sioson focuses on positives and possibilities. I can still do a lot she says. It s not like i was a great athlete or a great dancer where i would have been devastated. I have always been first and fore most a student and an activist. My physical disability does t preclude her 3vi months at the rehabilitation Institute of Chicago put it All in perspective. She envied patients there who could use their hands. But she was grate continued on Page 6 february 7, 1933 sunday Page 5
