As the Stem Cell Debate Heats Up in the Senate...One Man Urges President Bush To ''Walk a Mile in My Shoes''.

NEW YORK -- Caretaker of Wife with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Asks Fellow Caretakers and Patients To Send Their Heartfelt Notes (and an Old Pair of Shoes) as a Message to the White House!

In the past seven years, Eric Yaverbaum's life has changed in ways that he never thought possible. As his wife's Multiple Sclerosis progressed, he has started to consider things he never "saw" before, such as, why are some Doctors' offices not handicapped-accessible? He has started to question everything he always took for granted, from his relationship with his children (What do I tell them?), to finances (How can anyone afford to provide for a chronically ill loved one?), to security (Why me? Why her? If I do my best - is it enough?), and politics (What are stem cells? And why should I care?).

As Yaverbaum and millions of other Americans, caretakers and patients alike, ask these questions - for the first time in his two terms, President Bush is threatening to exercise his veto on the bill that would expand public funding for stem cell research, a resource which suggests a potential cure for everything from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's and spinal cord injuries. If, like Nancy Reagan, Dana Reeves, or many lesser-known people, the President had to live with an illness in his home for a year or two, would he feel differently about this decision?

He won't tell you about vacations. He won't tell you about long walks on the beach with the love of his life. He won't tell you about tomorrow. Twenty years after her diagnosis, Yaverbaum will tell you that the world is a strikingly different place -- and yet -- he will tell you how much more he likes the guy he sees in the mirror. He will tell you about the long, long list of people who help him at home so he can continue to earn a living. He will tell you how much he has grown from the experience of caring for his childhood sweetheart, best friend and mother of his children. And he will go on to tell you about his wife -- the only modern day heroine he has ever met.

Despite his mental and physical exhaustion, to Yaverbaum, his wife's chronic illness was a blessing; he hopes to be exhausted for a very long time to come. "For years, so many wonderful well intentioned and supportive friends and visitors have come to our home to share in our experience and lives. But then they leave. My family spends seven days a week, 24 hours a day doing the very best we can to maintain a functioning, loving family unit. We've been doing it long enough now to know - until you "Walk a Mile" in our shoes - you cannot understand what it's like."

Therefore, Yaverbaum is asking his fellow caretakers, patients, and friends to send the White House a message. As Yaverbaum states, "We can't have a 'Million-Caretaker-Walk in Washington! We have to be home when we're not working. But we can send the President a million pairs of our old shoes with an emotional and realistic note of what we do every single day. Maybe the volume of shoes or one of those notes might just sway his opinion? Could just one note make a difference?"

Please send all shoes and notes for President Bush to:

"Walk a Mile in My Shoes"
                      c/o Jericho Communications
                     304 Hudson Street, Suite 700
                       New York, New York 10013

Yaverbaum will deliver the notes to the White House and donate all the shoes to charity -- but not before making sure the White House sees them!

Eric Yaverbaum, founder of the "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" initiative, is available for interviews.