Karen and I celebrated 52 years together yesterday. That is a long time to live together and love each other despite the stresses and strains of life. It is easy to look at the world and give up on marriage and family life but after just over five decades of family I am still optimistic about the future.
God was involved with us from the beginning and that gives us hope for our children and your children. The enclosed film is one of the most positive films I have seen from a big company. It is by Unilever and promotes the notion that our hope depends on bringing healthy children into the world.
A few years ago we did a yearlong research study on the needs of families with a special needs child. One of my insights from that work has been the fact that rearing a child with a chronic illness is stressful but most of the families. rise to the occasion daily and develop positive, optimistic lives. They love their children and overcome great challenges to provide a caring environment for the entire family.
After a lot of work and the guidance of the Lord several tools to support parents have arisen from the original research and the innovative ideas of our team. Jim Donovan, Andrea Bowsher have been especially insightful and focused to develop ways to support these families. Two agencies in Butler County Ohio, Help Me Grow and Family Focus, have been extremely helpful to us as we develop our tools that they and others can use to find out more exactly how to support the children and their families.
You will hear a lot more about the tools and supportive systems that are coming from our Beta Research with Butler County Board of DD. Sweeten Life Systems has formed a brand new kind of company to better serve the needs of the professionals and the families they serve. It is called Patient Home Advantage, L3C and is designed to strengthen the home life of every special needs child and family.
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