Friends, Crabs and The Chromosome 18 Conference
By: Rebecca P
On Saturday, June 30, my friend Kaylyn and her family came over to have steamed crabs. Kaylyn and her family live in Michigan. They never had crabs before and were willing to give crab picking and crab eating a try. They were given “lessons” on how to eat a crabs and what were the good parts and the not so good parts of the crab to eat! Kaylyn’s parents LOVED the crabs; Kaylyn and her brother, not so much!
Kaylyn and her family spent the night at my house and it was awesome! In the morning, my dad made blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast. Then it was time to pack up and head to Baltimore for the start of the The Chromosome 18 conference! This is the first time the conference has been in my hometown!
The conference is the highlight of my year because I get to see all of my friends. I text them throughout the year, but it is always great to see them in person!
Through Facebook messenger, I met Jaclyn. She was excited to meet more friends like me who have a Chromosome 18 deletion. We met each other for the first time in Baltimore.
This year, I went to The Cheesecake Factory with 7 other people. It was fun to be independent. I also went to the Hard Rock Cafe with the Self Advocate group. My friend Macy and I got a Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae. It was YUM!!!
The last night is the Starfish Dinner and Dance. EVERYONE gets out and dances!!!
This year some of people who help me so much during the year came. This was our table!!!
The 4 days of the conference go by so quick! Sometimes it is hard to wait another 365 days to see everyone again!