Dear Friends,

Not so very long ago the journey of our family through life took a very unexpected turn. Jason led the way. Many of you came along, and all of our lives were changed.

There are not enough words to thank you for all the blessings you brought to our lives: the almost 150 of you who helped with Jason's patterning therapy; those of you who arranged meals for our family throughout those fifteen months; those of you who did research on the Internet and in libraries, and talked with specialists and physicians around the country; those of you who helped with activities of daily living; those of you who housed our family during the time we were so scattered; those of you who called, and sent cards and flowers and gifts; those of you who gave of your time to be with Jason and give us respite; those of you who so generously donated in his memory to this foundation so that we could be of service to others; and all of you prayed. We were and are truly blessed.

Jason always seemed to be a child who drew people into his life for a purpose. This was especially true during those 15 months he came back from near death to be with us. Without being able to say a word, he taught all of us about patience, simple joys, compassion, faith, and unconditional love. He let us experience with him a world of people who are truly "the least of these", people whose very lives are completely dependent on others. And he helped us learn where we can be of service in working towards a better quality of life for people with brain injuries and their families.

We have not ignored this opportunity. We know from our experience how difficult it is to find time to research all that is needed to help maximize recovery for a loved one, while total energy is being consumed in care giving. Thus far we have taken our time to help 23 families that, like ours, found the systems presently in place to assist them were either not readily evident or were inadequate. Now we look forward to joining with people and organizations that are working to strengthen or correct those systems for the future.

It seems appropriate to introduce our foundation's first informational flyer during the Brain Injury Awareness month of October, and to let you know of our plans. The enclosed information will be distributed to area hospital trauma units, and rehabilitation facilities. And our work will be carried out from an office in Radford that was generously offered to the foundation. The blessings continue.

It is a regrettable fact that the only present cure for brain injury is prevention. And in the United States, a traumatic brain injury occurs every 15 seconds, and over 373,000 are serious enough to require hospitalization. As we distribute this first information to the public about the foundation, we expect to be helping many more families even with our small outreach. Please feel free to share this flyer with those who may need us, and those who may wish to support us. And please let them know that their gifts are tax deductible.

We also ask that you continue to support our efforts with your thoughts and prayers. That is what gave us strength in the past, and continues to sustain us. As far as we can determine, prayer for Jason and our family went up in 83 churches - from people in at least 30 states and 15 countries around the world. Prayer is powerful. Jason is free. And we are free to put into action what he helped us to learn.

May you have blessings in your lives!

Fran Rooker, President