With all that unspeakable pain I would choose to do it all again, every bit of it. The reason is simply, that my life is better because Joey was in it. So, that is what I want to speak about, not the pain, but the joy and the thankfulness.

One of the things I am thankful for is that we don’t have any "I wish"’s. There is no "I wish we did this with Joes" or "I wish we took Joes here or there". When Joey was hospitalized in 1998 we knew that time was precious. The three of us would spend as much time together as possible. We were not going to have any "I wish"’s. Oh, I complained when I had to turn off the Laker’s championship games to watch Toy Story. But, the truth is, there was no place I would rather be, than watching Toy Story with Michele and Joey while Joey talked to Woody and Buzz. It was perfect.

The song that played during the slide show a little wile ago was called "Now and Forever" by Carole King. We played it at Joey’s funeral. It said so much about our time with Joey. One line in particular says," We are the lucky ones, some people never get to do all we got to do." That was really true for us. Joey packed a lot into his nine years. He traveled all over the U.S., From Baltimore to Honolulu. He swam with Dolphins; met Astronauts saw a Space Shuttle launch and so much more. Thoughts, of our trips to Florida to see Dr. Maria will always bring a smile to my face, especially thinking of Joes smiling at the fireworks at Epcot Center.

There were times when I was having a really bad day at work, and then I’d spend an hour and a half in traffic. I would be in a bad mood by the time I got home. Then I would open the door, Joey would look up at me, smile, say something in his language. I didn’t understand the words, but I understood the meaning. He was happy to see me and was glad I was home. Instantly I forgot about the rest of the day. I would get on the floor with him and we would wrestle and play and we would both laugh continuously. Then Michele would come in and she would pretend she was mad at us. She would say, "My boys are making too much noise." Then she would jump in and the three of us would be rolling around together, and all of us were laughing, Joey, loudest of all. Then maybe before going to bed I would put on my Cat in the Hat hat and read Dr. Seuss to Joes while he listened intently to every word. When I went to bed I would sleep peacefully because, after all, it was a good day. Joey had the magic to make it that way.

Joey changed us in so many ways. Through him we learned about things like patience, commitment, focus and perspective. We became stronger every day. We found out we were much stronger than we ever imagined. Most importantly we learned about love from Joey. It is hard to explain, there were never any games, just pure love. He never walked talked or played ball like other kids, but no one ever loved or was loved more than Joey. The Beatles were right. "All You Need is Love" I never understood that until Joey was born.

We know people that enter their kids in beauty pageants. I can tell you without hesitation, that I have seen more beauty at these conferences over years and in this room tonight. It scares me to think that I might not have recognized it if Joey had not been born. Some people see beauty in flowers or mountains or beaches. I do too, but I see more. I said it in Joey’s eulogy; we are much better people today than we were before he was born. Joey brought out the best in us.

There are so many more things we are thankful for, but this is the last I will talk about now. We are thankful for all of you. Without Joey we would never have met any of you. At the five conferences we have attended we have made so many friends, many who we will talk to for the rest of our lives. The cards, letters and messages we received after Joey passed away from so many of you, meant more to us than you can possibly imagine.

We know people are hesitant to bring up Joey to us. If anyone wants to talk to us about Joey please don’t hesitate. You won’t cause us any additional pain. He is after all our favorite subject.