My "spell checker" is calling me a dunce. Everybody knows that "every body" is one word, not with a space in the middle, so today let me be real straight-forward and tell you, as emphatically as I can, that at Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation, I thank God that is not the case, not at all.

Allow me to also inform you, right up front, that the impending cuts to TennCare that are now proposed by Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen are not for "every body." For example, I type with only one hand. My "body" is not like everybody else's.

So if you need a good cry, something to weigh heavily on your heart, something to gnaw on your soul as you ask Jesus for grace in your church pew, go sit in the sparkling fitness center at the hospital and watch quietly as a paraplegic works on an exercise machine. Just sit there. You needn't know even the person's name, only that he's exercising his "body" to stay alive.

My mission today is not to lambast the cold insensitivity of the state legislature that has already approved the cuts. Surely there is a reason that we as a society turn our backs on those who have already suffered a health catastrophes. That is a story for another day.

No, my plea today is that you would give me one and a half hours on Tuesday, Feb. 23, to join me and a host of the most sensational people on earth to celebrate the 20th anniversary of "a better life" in our community. The hospital will hold its annual "Possibilities Luncheon" that day at the Chattanooga Convention Center and, lest you cringe at a "pity party," I can assure you that will not occur.

Instead the event, which will feature a phenomenal speaker named Roger Crawford who, after his parents were told their child would never walk, became a Division 1 NCAA tennis champion. He is funny, he is tremendously entertaining and his does not have a "body" like most of those sports heroes we adore.

At the luncheon you will also meet a beautiful girl named Brittney Stockburger who was a robust and healthy river guide on the Ocoee River when she fell off a deck, broke her neck and was paralyzed. She had no insurance, Siskin said "C'mon anyway!" and I hope you'll still have your napkin when, at the luncheon, she shows you her wedding pictures.

You ever heard of a guy named Dean Rafferty? He was one of Siskin's first spinal cord patients. Now paralyzed from the chest down, he volunteers at Siskin so great is his gratitude. He was there when they brought Brittney in. They got to be buddies, since he was her age long ago when his tragedy occurred. His family has even taken Brittney's family on an hysterical camping trip. You'll still need to keep your napkin.

Then there is David Wilson. You will remember he was a great soccer player at Chattanooga Christian and signed a scholarship with Union University over in West Tennessee. Then there was this tornado - you remember? - and he was buried under 21 feet of debris for five hours. He should be dead, but, hey...what's a champion to do? Some said he'd never walk. After five weeks at Siskin, his "body" was changed, but he walked, that's right, he walked out the front door. Waiter, bring us some more napkins.

What I am saying is that every corporation, every company, every politician and everybody who loves their "body" should pay homage to the greatness that is visible every day next to Erlanger Hospital. This is about all of "us" and this luncheon is the only public appeal for funding that Siskin Hospital makes all year.

Face it, the people of Siskin will be right there - somehow - when you come calling. But now they are the ones who are calling. Please call 423/634-1208 and make reservations. Those who can afford corporate tables "must" and individuals can also celebrate with the luncheon chairs, Stan and Betsy McCright, and me for just $65 bucks.

Those who are unable to attend, but who realize the ever-pressing needs in what the Tennessee Hospital Association is now calling potentially devastating, can send a contribution to "Possibility Luncheon,", care of: Bob Main, President; Siskin Hospital;, One Siskin Plaza; Chattanooga, TN 37403.

Now, one more thing: You know that sparking fitness center, the one where "every body" is welcome? One the wall is a huge list of the names of actual hospital employees - some 75 percent of the 420 who work there - who donated their money to help build it.

The "real" reason it was built - this is the true skinny - is because TennCare and other insurance companies just pay a set amount for so many days for in-patient and then out-patient care. Then what? Are those who still desperately need further help supposed to just dry up? Not hardly. By offering a low-cost yet state-of-the-art facility with exercise machines adapted for "every body," the patients still come and are "alive" because they go through their routines and therapy with the best America has to offer.

Is that slick or what? Go to any other city and see if they have a place like it. It's a better test to find out the answer to "now what" after a car wreck or a stroke or a something equally debilitating, but we don't wish that on anyone. You see, while the "body" may change, your heart and soul do not, as evidenced by heroes such as Brittney Stockburger, Dean Lafferty and David Wilson. You'll see for yourself at the luncheon.

Siskin's Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation, trust me, is for "every body." The luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 23, is for "every body," too. And if this "spell checker" beeps at me one more time because I can personally say my "body" isn't like everybody else's I'm liable to throw it in the beautiful Tennessee River that languidly slides beside the one place in Chattanooga that is for "every body."

rroyexum@aol.com