Being nice

Niksmom has kindly nominated for the "Nice Matters Award." This award is really cool, because you give it to people you think are nice and supportive:

This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good
blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.

Once you’ve been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award.

Yes, good feelings and inspiration. Well, that would be all the blogs I read. Which isn't really that many, but tagging all of them would also be unfair. Tag. You're Nice. (I can't be fair all of the time!)

If I had to pick to top seven people who "inspire good feelings and inspiration" in my life right this minute... hmm... I mean, beside Joey, Andy, Allan, and Mom, because that would take up four slots, so maybe I can just put "Family" in slot one. Now I can still pick on six other people.

My friend Christina is a great inspiration. She keeps on chuckin', and then calls me with her bright, cheery voice to shine some sunshine on my day. Gotta love that!

My friend Sue, whom I don't often blog about, is anther one of those tethers to reality and cheerfulness. She has an NT son who is just a dollface, and sometimes its nice to hear about some normality.

Maddy must be included on this list. Maddy was the first person to comment here, letting em know I wasn't all by myself after all. There are other places where "goldfish" is a food group.

Whenever I think about nice people, and what "nice" means, I think of Howard and Kimberlee. When my cat Puma was very very sick in the last stages of feline leukemia, she needed an emergency blood transfusion. They were the only people we knew who had healthy cats, and though we didn't really know them that well, we asked them to help us with one of their beloved babies. They never even hesitated, asked questions, nothing- they grabbed their young, healthy cat Pepin and came to the rescue. Their kindness gave us another week with our Puma, and I will never forget it. There are real, courageous, nice people in the world.

Another great inspiration is my friend St. Anne. Her little boy has been a great companion, classmate, and buddy for my Joey this summer, and she's just another epitomy of a nice person, with supportive comments and advice for everybody (especially me!). Thanks for the Diet Cokes on my rough afternoons.

I'd also like to mention Joey's first preschool teacher. Even when she moved off to another distrcit, she has stayed interested in Joey, and helped us learn how to advocate for him. Shes the kind of teacher I wish everyone had- interested in her students, willing to go the extra mile and do the extra research to make sure she is doing the best she can to help her kids and their parents. You can't ask for much nicer than that. She always has an encouraging word (and supportive indignation) when we're at wit's end. Thanks, Miss Angie.