Stills Conference!

[Guest guest]

Hi to all the beautiful People (Stilligans)!:

Folks I am going to attempt to put emotions into

words. A few of the others that attended our first conference managed to do

a beautiful job now I hope that I can at least equal it although this is not

a contest. We (Carole and I) arrived at the Orleans Hotel a day earlier than

everyone else and much to our surprise it was a very nice Hotel. We got all

registered in and partook of a little of the slot machine which I promptly

gave a bunch of dollars to. Well, we were both pretty beat so we went to

dinner and retired to our room for the evening and caught up on the news. We

awoke the next morning and had a very good breakfast and were looking

forward to meeting everyone in the lobby at noon. Thank goodness for my

wheelchair or I would have never made it around that casino. Well, we kept

checking the lobby around the desk from about 11am but no one was there.

Then all of a sudden I rounded the corner and what a delightful surprise

overtook my eyes. Now you have to remember that I have CRS! There sitting on

the couch next to the sign in desk was our dear Melt, her hubby Smilin

and ! Warm wonderful hugs and lots of tears all around were the order of

the moment. It was so wonderful to meet these wonderful people in person.

And I felt like I had known them all my life! Now everything starts getting

fuzzy because as emotional as I was I can't remember who showed up next but

in the end we had Louise and Greg, Sue #2 and her Beautiful Mom Lois, Ron,

Al (with the great voice) and his wife Sue, Tricia and her husband Dan, and

Traci who captured me mid hallway! The Hugs and tears really flowed that day

and the subsequent days when we got together. We had some great meals

together and some great times and talks. The first day was total confusion

but full of love and friendship and emotion! The second day wasn't much

better because after having breakfast and lunch with some of the folks we

all joined together in Louise and Greg's room since they had the largest one

The intention was to have our small auction, make a small presentation,

discuss a few things and make a little money for the Foundation. Well all

started off right I said a few words and kept it short going over the bank

account and then the presentation of the plaque to Tom and then we all

started saying a few words.You talk about Hugs and tears and emotions??????

The room was saturated with them. I believe that everyone had something to

say and I will repeat what Carole and I had to say about the Stilligans: We

have adopted every one of the Stilligans as our own children, it doesn't

matter how old you are you are our adopted children and as far as all the

help we are supposed to have give to you all and the Foundation Carole said

it beautifully when she said that " You are really helping us " because after

the Death of our daughter we were lost and this foundation and you

Stilligans have kept us busy enough to know that maybe we are making a

difference and at least we are helping someone. For the rest of our lives we

will never forget this first conference, nor any future ones. The days of

that conference and the emotions that I have had and felt will be with me

forever. Of course there were many tearful goodbyes and Carole and I stayed

at the Hotel for another day to rest up, LOLOLOLOL, prior to our continuing

on our trip. All in all we were gone from home a total of 33 days and we

enjoyed every minute of those 33 days but none as much as we enjoyed the

days we spent with our Stilligan Family! Folks I hope that a lot more of you

get to attend the next conference when ever that will be and where ever it

will be. It will do so much for your outlook on life and the people that you

meet. I know that most of what I have reported is pretty disjointed but that

s the way it is when you have CRS, lol! The main thing is that I loved every

minute of it and so did Carole. We love you all. Take care now and be PAIN

FREE!

We Will Win

Love Y'all

Mom & Dad

Bob & Carole

Please Visit the International Stills Disease Foundation Web Site at:

www.stillsdisease.org