PJ's Talking...

PJ Hornberger is a well-known Texas folk artist whose work appears in many collections around the country and locally. For a number of years, she had her shop on the square at Round Top.  Last Wednesday she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She and her husband work all the time very hard, but they have not been able in the past few years to afford health insurance. They are both too young for Medicare. So hers is a face and name to attach to the catch-all category of misery known as the “uninsured”. Here’s a few cut and pasted excerpts from her blog.

“Friends,  there is something about having to say,  “I have lung cancer,  no insurance,  can you please help me?”   It brings me to my knees every time.  So  after I get off that call,  I cry real big,  then make the next call.  It works.  And I say a little prayer…. ok, ok,  it’s a big prayer.

“Now comes the part that I shoulda kept my insurance.   Well,  folks,  it came down to,  do we eat or not.  We were eating beans & cornbread more  often than it’s required to be from Texas.  Do we pay the light bill, or not.  In Texas,  you die without air conditioning.  That was not an option.  I cut what hair I have.  I drive a Kia.  Yes,  it’s unAmerican.  But they didn’t need a loan to stay in business.

“I live in a very old house,  that needs a lot of love,  which it is not getting.  My jeans are at least 8 years old,  and so are the rest of my clothes.  Have I missed anything?

“We had insurance for over 30 years.  We were always moved to the front of the line,  treated with respect,  kindness,  etc.  Now I know the truth.  The UNINSURED don’t get the same treatment.  Knowing it makes me sad,  very sad.  And I feel guilty for getting to be in the front of the line for so many years.

Well,  now I’m in the back of the line.  The very end of the line.

Here’s the link: http://pjhornberger.com/

I hope you can help me find some good in this tragedy for a talented person many people love.