Back from the 2008 Child of deaf adults (CODA) conference Posted on July 17th
Last week was our annual Child of Deaf Adults conference. This group is for adult children who have at least one deaf parent. The conference was held in Indianapolis Indiana and this year marked my fifth year of attendance. This trip marked my first trip to the midwest!
The conference attracts people from all over the world. The group is so international that most of us have come to calling the organization CODA International. The experience is not like any other but I have come to think of it like a family reunion of sorts.
I am the Northeast representative for this organization which meant that I had to 
attend 2 solid days of board meetings. After the meetings, my lovely sister, Sara and I took a little road trip out to Lake Papakeechie in Syracuse Indiana to visit my friends at their cottage.
This lakeside home is going to be a lovely place to retire. While I was there I kept thinking of Ernest Hemingway and his typewriter. The view of the lake was breathtaking. Don’t you think so?
After our little road trip, we returned to downtown Indianapolis. What a lovely city! Fortunately, it’s lively and clean. I would love to come back to explore further. Some of the pictures I snapped of this week are here.
The official kickoff of the conference is capped off by a keynote speech and then it’s 
solid days of workshops. Entertainment and socializing are what folks do in the evenings. My sister really enjoyed her ‘newbie‘ experience. Seeing the conference through her eyes as well as seeing the folks that I’ve come to know and love over the last 5 years meet her for the first time made this conference one of my favorites. It was also the conference where I got my first pin for 5 years of attendance. The 5 year pin is the first pin a member gets. The conference has has over 20 years of conferences held worldwide and the lovely woman hugging me has been to all of its conferences!
The Children of Deaf Adults (CODA) organization is growing so rapidly and there is such an interest in the work (scholarships) of the organization that there were over 60 newcomers to this years conference. Here’s another blogger who attended, codadiva, posting a video blog of her experience.
Obviously, the brother and sisterhood of having deaf parents is a profoundly deep one. One of the gifts (and there are many) that comes with having deaf parents is being part of this organization. 
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Isn't the Midwest something? I've lived in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. I really like it - but I'd retire to Oregon given the chance.
So as I'm browsing thru your flickr photos, I see you took as many as I did. Do you have more of the conference or was that it? I was like hurry up, take photos now before I go on the last day. Love yours!
I miss you!
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