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  Former congressman Lane Evans: 'I have no regrets'
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Last Editedev  Sep 08, 2008 02:46am
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MediaNewspaper - Quad-City Times
News DateSunday, September 7, 2008 08:45:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionFormer congressman Lane Evans: 'I have no regrets'

For 24 years, Lane Evans fought for the rights of veterans and workers. Today, he fights for himself — against a disease that ravages his body while another strikes at his mind.

The people who have come to know the retired 12-term U.S. congressman — and there are too many to count — have kept track of Evans’ health since he disclosed a decade ago that he has Parkinson’s disease. People cannot help but notice his decline. It is written on his unsteady gait and declared by his mumbled speech.

His central-nervous system breakdown drove Evans from office long before he was ready to go.

The 57-year-old spends his days in a modest apartment in an assisted-living center in Silvis, Ill. Although his body often refuses to cooperate with a mind that is now disrupted by dementia, self-pity is as elusive as uninterrupted thought.

For Evans, life is a collection of conflicting patterns.

He is weak, yet strengthened by lifelong ideals.

He loves privacy but misses his friends.

He finds relief in the simplicity that comes with retirement but pines for a chance to help pass just one more piece of legislation.

He is disabled by his illness, yet enabled by the challenges it creates.

As he answered questions last week in a two-hour interview at his home, his thoughts were often sidetracked by Lewy body, a dementia-producing disease that is similar to Alzheimer’s. But he answered one question without pause.

When asked whether he had any regrets, Evans’ voice was clear and strong.

“None,” he answered. “I have no regrets.”

Passing the torch

Evans’ outing last month to hear U.S. Sen. Barack Obama speak at the fairgrounds in Davenport — just a few days before Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president — was an increasingly rare public appearance.

But Obama is to Evans what the Obama campaign has tried to portray for the rest of America: its best hope.

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