Greetings All,

Well, we approach the end of another year. I reviewed some e-mails I had sent in past years, as well as looked into a journal I keep, at what I had written in 2000. I'll get into those in more detail a little later on. Interesting enough, a King, one that is described in a very famous book as the wisest man ever was quoted as saying "that there is nothing new under the sun". The older I get the more I understand the statement. He wasn't talking about scientific discoveries, new inventions, the computer, the internet or what ever will come out next year. He was simply saying that life, which encompasses all of those things I just mentioned above, really doesn't change. There will always be new inventions and scientific discoveries, but people will do what people will do. There will be weddings, divorces, new babies, death, war, peace, illness, healing, tragedies, triumphs, new jobs, layoffs, anger, forgiveness, weight gain, weight loss, happiness, sadness, new customers, lost customers, new employees, old employees, ex-employees and, well, you get it, I can go on and on. In reviewing some of my previous e-mails I was concerned about polarization amongst us, the war in Iraq, the media's influence both good and bad, how we treat each other, how we treat our loved ones or not so loved ones, parents getting older, the ravages of Ahlziemers, and guess what, nothing much has changed. I looked at what I wrote in my journal five years ago. I was worried about weight gain, how I treat my family, how well is the company doing, have I lost some of my faith, am I starting to enjoy my wine too much, should I get a new car, should I build a new home, and guess what, nothing much has changed.

I will start sending out attachments from friends and family that I think are worth sharing with all of you. For those of you new to the company, I usually send this kind of an e-mail more often than I did this year. No excuse, and it is not that I didn't think about it. Like most of us, I put off things that I really should do. The message in this attachment is not Christmas oriented, but the statements at the end of the story are timeless and should be remembered. You will see a few more of these before the year is over, and a couple that you may have seen before, but there are new folk with us and I would like to share those as well. So if you get something that you have already seen, feel free to delete. I won't know anyway. In the meantime, thanks for working for Cornerstone and deciding to make us your home away from home. Thanks to those of you who have supported Youth Villages here, as well as those of you in the field that give of your time and money to help others. Remember all of those effected by Katrina and Rita. Most of those people have had there lives permanently changed.

Have a great rest of the year and may each of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Rick Rodell
Chairman /CEO
Cornerstone Systems
Memphis, Tn.
901.842.1017