Nancy was in a car wreck, then a coma, and eventually in a persistent vegetative state. Her parents wanted to pull the plug on her. Much legal wrangling ensured.
While I was in law school in Missouri in the late 1980s, I met Nancy Cruzan--well sort of anyway. I was in a house with Mary N. Mary was a nice catholic girl I was strangely attracted to. It never would have worked out, but that is another story. Anyway, Mary and I went out on the back deck of this house and were sitting on a porch. It was cold outside and the backyard was covered in snow. But that wasn't all, Nancy Cruzan was also in the snow. Naturally, in her condition, she couldn't make any sound so we didn't see her at first.
I was trying to get a reaction from Nancy. First, I started with bad jokes. Like: Q: How can you tell that there is a drummer at the door? A: He doesn't know when to come in. The joke didn't seem to elicit any reaction from her, so I started with slapstick. I started making faces at her. I started pulling Mary's nose and pretending that I was Moe in the Three Stooges. That was when I noticed a slight smile creep across Nancy's face. Finally, I pulled out my pocket watch and pretended to hypnotize Nancy. I saw Nancy's eyes follow the arc of the watch. I then dropped the watch on Nancy's chest and she sat up. She hugged me and told me that I was funny.
Much later, when I was recounting the story to April F. at the Heidelberg Tavern, she told me that the story indicated that I had a bright future in either faith healing or necrophilia. Needless to say, I didn't pursue either course as a career.
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