Our 52nd international conference took place on June 20-22, 2008… we had a full house (or fool house) and a great time! On Saturday evening, we had a random drawing for a variety of prizes– e.g., free conference CD’s, free bookstore purchases, Smiles on a Stick, and having your name appear in John McPherson’s internationally-syndicated Close to Home cartoon, which reaches 40 million people in over 700 newspapers (John was also a presenter at our conference).

Cindy Zirkin was the lucky winner of this last prize. Check out Close to Home.

In the meantime, here is the true laugh-at-yourself anecdote that Cindy submitted:

While driving home to New Jersey after visiting friends in Connecticut, I was reveling in the fun we had. My friend and his two young sons and I had tossed water balloons, hiked, and played a spirited game of Monopoly. At 52 years of age, I was feeling young at heart.

After exiting the highway, I needed directions and stopped in front of a house where a few pre-teens were playing. They pleasantly gave me directions. As I started my car to leave, I heard their father shout to them from a large window, “Never talk to strangers!”

One of the girls called out, “Oh, don’t worry, Dad– it was just an old lady!”