Back from DC!

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone

I have finally made my way through the sea of emails, and am able to let you

all know about our week-long trip to DC.

Glenn and I left Sunday,September 24th to make our way to Washington DC. We

are not flyers, so we opted for the long drive there. With help from family, Tim

and Garrett were well taken care of while we were gone, although this is the

longest I have ever been away from them, so that was kind of hard on us all.

We arrived in Virginia on September 26 and were treated to the generous

hospitality of Fred Zeytoonjian and Sosnoski. Fred and 's children,

Forrester and Anton are completely wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed the

company and generosity that Fred and offered during our stay. Fred and

are great parents and that truely reflects on their children!

September 27 was GENETICS DAY ON THE HILL!. Hosted by Genetic Alliance, over

100 advocacy leaders came together to speak with the representatives concerning

Genetic Non-Discrimination and Genetic Testing. Glenn, myself, and O'leary

from Genetic Alliance met with six Texas representatives to speak with them on

these genetic issues. Five out of Six agreed to further investigate the issues

and hopefully, with a follow-up letter, they will sign on to these issues.

After a long day of running from one office to the next, we all met together

for a group picture in front of the Capital Building. You can view this picture

and read about the issues at:

http://www.geneticalliance.org/ws_display.asp?filter=policy.action.hill

(Glenn and I are on the far right of the picture standing)

After the picture, Glenn and I experienced " high-city subway life " ! LOL It

took us a while to find the subway, but finally we managed. We took the subway

to Fred's office where he generously offered to take our evening attire so we

could change for the evening Gala to celebrate Genetic Alliance's 20th

Anniversery. This was held at the National Geographic Society and outside was a

tented area where the leadership exhibit was displayed. Myself, and many other

leaders were honored in this exhibit. The exhibit will travel across America so

others can see the diversity in genetics leadership. This will be a great

opportunity for IMDSA to spread the word about mosaic Down syndrome! We enjoyed

a meal and some brief speakers before heading back for our subway to stay

another night with Fred and .

Thursday, I must say that my legs did not want to go as fast as my head wanted

them to move! Wednesday proved to be a lot of walking, especially when my legs

are used to being propped up next to a computer desk all day! lol We enjoyed a

few site seeing points before we headed home. (my legs thanked me)

Friday we had a special treat of having dinner with Beets and her

children Karlee and Eli for dinner in Tennessee. ('s husband had a previous

engagement, so he was unable to meet with us. We hope to see him another time)

was so generous to meet us right after a full day of work and treat us to

dinner. We really enjoyed visiting with all of them. Karlee and Eli are a true

delight and I made sure to tell Karlee to bug her mom every day about coming to

our 2007 Conference in Virginia. LOL

We finally arrived home on Sunday afternoon. A little tired, but no worse for

the wear. We enjoyed our trip and were happy to go to Washington to represent

all of you on these very important genetic issues.

Kristy Colvin

IMDSA President

www.imdsa.com