SUNDAY
The last day is the hardest of all. We say goodbye. But not one of us would have missed the experiences we shared. And we all so hope we can meet again next year.
I have to agree with Maurice when she says:
The Say What Club Convention is a highlight in my life. To see my old friends, to see faces to the ones I have e mailed with, and to act silly and enjoy myself is wonderful.From Sherri:
And even better than that - this club was founded on Love! The love of people who felt they just had to do something to help all of us and they found a wonderful way to do it! Bob eee (Elkins) and Ling, Alan, and all you wonderful people who founded and started the SayWhatClub - To you we owe so very much! You have given us the most wonderful gift through the SWC - the gifts of life, love, independence, understanding, patience, education, support, advocacy, and a whole new family to share our lives with! We are indebted to you! I wish there was more that I could do to help and I hope one day I will do more and help this club grow even larger!From Maurice:
Sunday morning we had the Brunch and Town MeetingFrom Barb:
It was a wonderful full breakfast with bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, pastries, toast, fruit, breakfast potatoes, juices of your choice, milk, and coffee, or tea.
After breakfast, Jazzy led the Town Meeting. We discussed the ways we could make the convention and the SayWhatClub lists better. How we could get new members. We also talked about the fact that we had a lot of first-time convention goers, but a lot of the old ones had not come back.
We knew we had had a wonderful convention but we tried to talk about ways to make it better.
We decided to start by telling our lists when we got home how great the Convention had been. We also talked about a buddy system that would help the newbies feel more a part of the Convention. We talked about flying alone, and there were reports of the meet and assist that you could ask your airline for that would give you someone to help you if you had to change planes. We discussed keeping cost down by sharing rooms, and one group even had five in their room. They called themselves the Fabulous Five and had a wonderful time.
We had a wonderful hospitality committee who had planned excursions for us, and had information on what to do, and even started notes around during the workshops as to where people were going for lunch and dinner . . .
Almost everyone had a story to tell about how much the Say What Club meant to them, and how the Conventions helped them to go home and deal with the stress of living with hearing loss for another year.
All of our board, but Bob eee were there, and poor Bob eee could not get on his feet at home. We missed him and Ling very much.
People were having to leave to catch the shuttles for their flights home, and there was a lot of hugging, and near tears as we closed the Convention for 2005.
Thanks you guys for cheering me up by telling me I look ok in my hat. I sure wish I could be with all you guys all the time. I am so relaxed and enjoy being around people who don't look down on you or criticize. I would be in 7th heaven living in a colony with all of you. Love you all and going to miss the fun and all in St. Louis, unless I can find some way to get there. Suppose I could get away with robbing a bank? It is just soooooooo wonderful being with people who are just like me. It was really great rooming with 4 others and no problems.And Lorne sums it up:
SayWhatClub conventions are always fun. The workshops are educational, the planned activities are entertaining, the sightseeing is eye-opening but, more than anything, the friendliness of the members is what makes conventions so enjoyable. This time, it was great to meet many first-time attendees. I hope to see everyone in St. Louis.