Family Conference

We were lucky enough to get to attend a conference this week at Clarke School for the Deaf. They do a yearly mainstreaming conference - this year was the first year that the whole family got to attend. The boys went off to "Making Connections" which is a track designed for teens with hearing loss in the mainstream. They had a blast meeting new friends and seeing old ones (which includes the conference organizers). The height of their day and ours was getting to see comedienne Kathy Buckley. Wow - what an amazing woman. And did I say how funny she is? Kathy is hard of hearing but wasn't diagnosed with her hearing loss until she was 8 years old. I listened to her alternating between laughing so hard I cried and crying because parts of her story just about break your heart. It's safe to say she ruined my make-up that day. You should check her out. She's so inspirational.

Here's a picture of the boys with Kathy - I won't tell you what she told them all to say when smiling for the camera! Aren't all three of them just gorgeous?


John Anderson is one of our favorite people. He grew up hard of hearing then lost the rest of his hearing as an adult and was one of the first to receive a cochlear implant. John is Clarke's adjustment counselor - such a great guy!


Hugh and I got to volunteer with the conference which was a lot of fun - I haven't done that before. It was fun catching up with old friends at Clarke as well as moms of other teens who now are buddies. It was wonderful being there for all of us - as usual!

The Pioneer Valley, where Clarke is located, is one of our favorite areas. It's located in western Mass and is home of Webs which I didn't get to visit. *sniff* I really need more yarn too. We went to the Holyoke Mall on the way home - I swear our whole town could fit in that mall! It's a little overwhelming.

I did knit all along the way - no new projects but making progress on several which is good. The holidays are approaching!