The NAMI Convention 2009

Last week I attended the National NAMI Convention in San Francisco. It was again for me a very empowering experience. The week was full of way too many sessions to be able to attend, picking my favorite was quite hard, but I can only be in one place at one time. I purchased the DVD with all the sessions recorded so that when it arrives I can "attend" the sessions I wanted to but couldn't.
While at the convention I met the founder of the National Bipolar Foundation, Marc Kullman. www.NationalBipolarFoundation.org It was for me a very significant encounter. Marc is a man with compassion and enthusiasm for the cause of finding a cure for Bipolar Disease. He is a tireless worker for the cause in spite of dealing himself with this terrible disease. I hope to work with him on this cause as it is what killed my son and I too want this disease curred, or at least way better controlled. So many people suffer such debilitating effects of Bipolar not to mention the stigma of this disease.
I also got to see my friends Patricia and Gina the author's of the book: Shutup About Your Perfect Kids, http://www.shutupabout.com/ They are wonderful and funny sisters on a mission to remove the stigma of not having perfect, honor roll, and gifted children. I highly recommend their book and web site to you.
We also met the people behind the story in the movie "The Soloist". Nathanial came and played his violin and chelo! This was a moving experience to see the movie and meet the people behind the story, Steve the reporter and Nathanial's sister. See the movie and THEN read the book. You'll be disapointed the other way around as the movie had to dramitize the real story somewhat to make a "good" movie. The real story is in the book.
This week will be very busy for me as I have several meetings as President of NAMI-CC. This work keeps me busy, sometimes too busy, but it is such important work that will make a difference in the lives of so many people that I can't not do it.