On October 26,2007 Livia and I spoke at the annual Bereavement Ontario Network Conference in Orillia. The conference
was held over 3 days and we were one of 4 Plenary Speakers.There were many speakers over the 3 days in concurrant sessions. There
were over 100 people at this conference. I did not know that everyone in attendance were people that worked in the field
of Bereavement(some bereaved parents themselves)...then there was just me and Liv. This got me a bit nervous. Plus,
they had a 1.5 hour time slot for me. That seemed like a lot. How was I going to fill it?
I was invited to speak at this conference through connecting with this group while e-mailing them about The Dove Book.
When they asked if I would speak I was shocked and not sure if I would do it, but I could hear Adam telling me to. I had to.
Our topic was called "Honouring Adam". The Conference Brochure link below gives a bio of Livia and I and what we were
to talk about.
We arrived at the Conference on Thursday afternoon and sat in on a few sessions. My turn to speak was on Friday morning
at 11:00 am, the very last session of the Conference.
I put together a power point presentation and Livia put together a speech. My power point presentation and Livia's speech
are in the links below.
My presentation started off well and as the audience responded and even laughed at some of my early jokes ,so that made
me feel at ease, and before I knew it, almost 1 hour had passed, and then Livia was up. She did a great job reading from
her speech very clearly and looking up at the audience.(and by the way I should give Marilena credit for proof reading my
speech and operating the power point projector)
Suprisingly there were no questions afterwards, however we recieved a standing ovation and the response afterwards was
very positive as many people came up to Livia and I with all sorts of positive feedback . A conference organizer told us they
have never before seen anyone recieve a standing ovation at these conferences.
It was quite th experience for Livia and I and I thank the BON people and organizers for thier kindness and support.
This is the letter from BON and a list of comments they compiled from the people in attendance.
Dear Andrew, Livia and Marilena
On behalf of the 2007 Conference Committee, I would like to thank you for speaking at the
17th Bereavement Ontario Network Annual Conference, The Empty Chair....redefining family after loss. Your contribution truly
made a difference.
Enclosed is a summary of all the participant feedback ratings and comments related to your
presentation , Honouring Adam , which confirm that you were , indeed, well received.
BON looks forward to continuing a partnership with you.
With Much Thanks and Appreciation
1. very moving
2. very heart warming,truly personal experience
3. Thank You for sharing and telling us about your beautiful son, Good job Livia,you are very
insightful
4. very informative-taking a tragic situation and turning into a positive. Bravo-what an amazing
family
5. Great "meaning -making " story.Thank you for sharing
6. Thank you for sharing Adam with us today ! I understand
7. It was a powerful experience-very helpful !
8. A touching story of loss and how the family have turned their grief into a constructive
and positive experience for others.
9. A powerful presentation about Adam's story .Thanks to his family for bringing this touching
presentation to us.
10. A very moving sharing. Thank You
11. Excellent !
12. A truly moving and heartfelt presentation-what a wonderful family and such a beautiful
tribute to Adam
13. Wonderful way to keep the memory of Adam alive. We'll add it to our web site.
14. Thanks for sharing your stories and inviting us to keep memories alive through various
methods.
15. Amazing presentation-so inspiring in so many ways ! God Bless you
16 You have touched the lives os many and your story has tied a rope around it's own
waist and jumped into the hearts and lives of others.
17. Humour-real people with real experience-thanks for sharing and being so honest-inspiring
that the Vitaternas want to help everyone so much
18. Superb and very special presentation. I am profoundly gratified for the sharing.
19. What a blessing to be privileged to hear and witness the story and journey
20. Excellent
21. being a speaker myself and hearing so many positve comments ,I wanted to repeat those-but
I found I couldn't. My emotions would not let me do that. It was a necessary session !
22. God bless you for the wonderful work in Adams Memory. I'm sure he is VERY VERY Proud.
23. Andrew and Family,Maybe you would like to get in touch with BFO Hamilton/Burlington organization.
Check web site for no. There is an excellent program for children TLC and for bereaved parents. A great resource. This organization
could benefit from some of your funding and compassion to keep our fee for service free for families experiencing death of
a child.
24. A great way to heal . Thank You. God bless your family.
25. Excellent ! Thank you for your incredible story and the gift of your compassion to the
rest of us.
26. Dad- Thank you for your honesty and for sharing creative ways to process our "grief energy"
in positive ways.
27. Sister-Thank You for your honesty too. Grief is such a taboo and that's not healthy. Keep
telling the truth about loss so more people will learn it's OK to greive and OK to take "time out" from grieving also. (from
a bereaved parent)
28. Inspirational- Real- The Best Presentation !
29. What a special tribute to your son. Thank you for sharing . Your reaching out to others
is a "positive" to such a tragic event.God Bless You All !
30. Thank you for your grace and huge hearts in the sharing of your family as a family of
5 people. I will buy the Dove Book to honour Adam and to honour your beautiful hearts. When we do things with love, we can
change the world around us.
31. A wonderful presentation of overcoming a tragedy and reaching out to others. Very relevant
to theme-The Empty Chair. The best presentation.
32. An incredible experience-privilege to have witnessed this.
33. WOW Livia ! So composed ...Andrew,Marilena and Livia - You have allowed God to shape you
for His work through Adam's brief life. Thank You.
34. Wonderful-heart touching and warming. Bless you all !
35. Thank You to the Vitaterna Family for sharing thier journey . Adam was blessed with his
short life and now his family's passion will touch many lives and reinforce the need to live in the moment and share your
God-given gifts. Thank You !!
36. A privilege to share in your journey. Thank You and Best Wishes with all your projects
and memorials. You are making a real difference and you touched my life.
37. I am so choked up for words. Thank You for sharing your compassionate heart and ways we
can turn grief into compassion for less fortunate people and others in general. "You" are an example for us all to learn by.
May God continue to abundantly Bless your whole family. " To Him Be The Glory".
Once again, Livia and I presented the same material at a Bereavement Resource Council of Niagara
conference held in Thorold on April 25. Once again we recieved very positive feedback.
Here is an e-mail I recieved from a lady a few days after the conference:
Hello Andrew and Family:
I attended the workshop held on Friday April 25th, 2008 at the Four Points in St. Catherines. I was so touched by
your story/tragedy that I couldn't stop thinking about all of you all weekend. I just wanted to say that I believe that
you have all done so much as a result of your loss and you are obviously touching and helping many others. I will be
forwarding a monetary donation to help you continue you do this great work in keeping Adam's memory alive. I'm sure
as I know you all are that by the looks of the pictures and your desrciption of Adam that he would have wanted it that way.
You are a family that has stuck together in your time of need and I am sure are much closer for it. I commend you for
pulling all of this together-the web site is amazing. I just want to add that Livia is a wonderful public speaker and
perhaps one day I will see her speaking publicly in a political career. I'm sure what she chooses to do she will be
very successful. Thank you for sharing your heartwarming/heartwrenching story and I hope to be able to talk to you again
in the future. Keep up the great work and Adam's spirit will live forever.
Sincerely,
