In a message dated 05/30/2008 7:02:38 AM, phil46@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes: << I took an interpersonal communications class in college, and I have to say that I got more usable skills from that one class than from the rest of my classes combined. >> I also took a couple of similar classes several years before Wade died and they really were helpful. If I had taken them when I was young and not married, they probably would not have had the same impact on my thinking. About two years before Wade died, his company started sending him to classes on building relationships in business to so the company could sell more of their product. The woman who taught them must have been amazing, because he would come home and be bubbling over what he was learning and it really changed the way he interacted with everyone, including me and the kids. I think they had done a lot of role playing, which he had never even been exposed to before, and it made a difference. Looking back, I can see how that helped open up his thinking to r eally be able to get something from the family counseling we were going to in the months before he died. You never know when insight is going to strike. I guess we all go through stages where we are more available to learn than at other times in our lives. The trick is for somehow to have those stages coincide for each person in a relationship. Nan-mom to Dom, 24, tri 18 mosaic and bipolar; and Ali, 24, autism, TS, ADHD <BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.<BR> (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002)</HTML> Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows www.trisomyonline.org Families Helping Families On-line