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3 After weeks of phone calls planning coordinating and hard work the conference weekend finally arrived. The event began on a Saturdaymorningwithbreakfastandapresentation by Suzannes 33-year-old son Eric. He said that while most people only become affected by MS when they or a loved one is diagnosed he has never known a life without MS as his mom was diagnosed when he was just an infant. The conference was designed as a family day so Eric spoke about his childhood and how he thought his mom was just lazy and never really understood what she was going through. He described the challenges of growing up with a single mom with MS and how he sometimes had to walk almost a mile to the bus stop alone find his own rides to sports practices and fix his own meals.Ericnotedthatiftherehadbeenaconference of this nature when he was younger it could have been life-changing. The first conference session was an interactive activity called Putting the Pieces Together. Each attendee was given one blank puzzle piece and the freedom to write or draw whatever they wanted upon it. The puzzle was laid out on a table in the conference foyer and attendees were instructed to place their pieces in order to build a community puzzle of ideas and encouragement. Suzanne said From the beginning I have told the group that its not my group or your groupbut it is our group each one of us owns a piece of it we are all a piece of the puzzle. The puzzle came together but is missing a few pieces. We will always have our door open looking for those pieces new people are welcome and we need them to complete our puzzle. Speakers throughout the day included neurologists speech pathologists a physical therapist an aquatics instructor a professor from a local college a life coach a mental health counselor a licensed clinical social worker a nurse practitioner and a service dog trainer. Topics and activities included memory exercises chair stretching wellness exercises self-awareness food psychology a service dog presentation programsforteensLSVTLOUDspeechtreatment managing MS and relationship conversations and weeding out your emotional garden. At a couple points in the day attendees were given the opportunity to choose between handfuls of concurrent workshops so they could pursue whichever interested them most. Smaller hospitality rooms were also rented to hold Lets Talk About MS group sessions that allowed different populations to chat amongst themselves while a moderator kept order and organization. Five group sessions were offered Living With MS Life Partners Teens Caregivers Family Friends and Living With MS No Caregiver. In keeping with the family theme of the weekend one hospitality room was set up exclusively for kids and teens in attendance to hang out play games and enjoy snacks. Theeveningprovidedevenmoreopportunities for informal chats in hospitality rooms including Teen Time Progressive MS Chat and Newly Diagnosed Chat. These rooms stayed open until