Dear SOFT families:

The change of seasons is in the air in New York.  What a beautiful time of year.  The leaves are at their peak and the colors are beautiful!  They are talking about wet snow flurries tonight in the air and that is part of the change of seasons I am not looking forward to. They are already putting up the Christmas trees and decorations at the mall.  It seems they are rushing the season a little.  I can remember when they would actually wait till Thanksgiving before they would put up the decorations.  It now gets earlier and earlier every year.  I am sure it has a lot to do with the retailers being very concerned about the economy and what this year will bring due to the state of our financial in this country.  Just like 911 the state of our financial also affects our organization and its finances.  When money is tough at home, we don’t see the donations that we have seen in the past.  We always are thrilled when we get those company matching donations from those of you that are able to donate through your jobs.  Thanks for thinking of SOFT.  We also appreciate the donations from families when they send memorials for their children.  All this helps to keep SOFT running and providing the services we provide, such as the newsletter, the 800# for phone calls and with helping with the conference.  Thanks you to each and every one of you who helps in anyway!

The conference committee is working very hard to make next year another memorable year.  They have included information in this newsletter of what they are planning for next year.  I am already excited and hope that we will see many of our east coast families that we have not seen in several years.  We have missed you, please plan on joining us this year.  I am sure that if any one has any suggestions the committee would love to hear from you.  They are trying to make this conference special for you, so let them know what would make it special for you.  We have signed the contract with the hotel so you can start getting your room reserved before they are all gone.  Don’t wait too long.

The new CARE BOOK is in and ready to go out in the mail.  Thanks to Ann Barnes for her hard work on this book and the many hours of research she did to make this book possible.  It is an expanded and improved edition from the last Care Book she did.  It has about twice the information than the last edition.  You can get your copy now for $14.95 by sending a check or charge number to SOFT   2982 South Union Street   Rochester, NY   14624.  There will be an order form later in this newsletter.

Christmas and the holiday season are coming in less than 60 days.  Don’t forget that we have the SOFT awareness bracelet available.  We have several of the 7 ¼ “in stock at this time.  Remember those you love when you thinking about ordering for Christmas.  You can also think of the poetry book as a great stocking stuffer for Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts and uncles too!

Stacy continues to enjoy her surroundings since her cataract surgery improved her vision in her left eye.  She is so excited every day that we have had to start trying to remind her to use her restaurant voice as she was getting a bit TOO loud!  It is so great to see her enjoying everyone and everything around her again.  I only wish we had realized sooner how bad her vision had been affected.  It is always so easy to look back after and realize we should have done the surgery sooner.  Oh well, just glad she is now so happy and being able to enjoy her surroundings. Stacy had a good summer and a good fall so far.  Her health has been good.  She is enjoying her program and volunteering out in our community.  We are working on re-doing her room.  The wall paper is almost down thanks to help from my nephew.  I started last week and I was dreading how long it was going to take.  Thanks to Cory it is almost done and then I can paint and hopefully get her room back in order and get new carpet put in.  It just never seems like there is enough time in the day!

We had a nice surprise at the end of the season.  Patrick Healey was on his way back to college and needed a place to rest the first night on the road.  We enjoyed taking him to the last Red Wings game of the season as well as treating him to a garbage plate at Nick Tahous,  For those that have never had that treat it is mac salad, beans, home fries with either hot dogs or burgers on top, topped with onions and covered in hot sauce.  See what you are missing?  Sure hope you have recovered Patrick!

Remember to send in your Holiday greetings for the next newsletter.  This is a great time to send a card and a brief update so we can see how everyone is doing.  Don’t leave your family out!

To all our SOFT friends and families have a wonderful, healthy holiday season.  Start saving for the conference so you won’t miss a great time.  Be safe and healthy this holiday season.

SOFTly,
The VanHerreweghes
Barb, Dave, Stacy, Andy and Anna says from her too!