10 on tuesday (13)

10 Nicest Things That People Have Done for Me

I'm sure there will be some super nice thing that I won't think of to put on this list. I have anxiety about it. I'll be the person who won the Academy award and forgot to thank her husband.

1. My biological mother giving me up for adoption. I've learned a little bit about her situation at the time (still anonymous but details nonetheless) and I don't think I needed to fear her choosing not to have me. As her due date got closer, she started waffling about whether or not to give me up. Despite everything I've had to handle in my life, I couldn't imagine having different parents.


2. All those nice letters of recommendation people have written for me over the years. All those people took time out of their busy schedules to make me sound worthy of a spot in a grad school program or an actual job with a salary.


3. When I was in college I applied for, interviewed for, and eventually got a volunteer position at the Student Counseling Center. It was a big deal, and I was very excited about it. Days before I was supposed to start, my mother died. I'm not one to shirk responsibilities but I knew I just couldn't fulfill that obligation at that time. I told the people there and they just made sure that was really my decision. Then they told me they'd save me a place the next semester. That was nice enough but then they sent me a card that they had all signed. They were sorry to hear about my loss. These people had only met me once or twice. Yeah, I cried.


4. This past weekend I was out to dinner with cph and suddenly became super nauseous. Yeah, that's always fun. Not only did she drive me home (with a few emergency stops along the way), but she carried through our plan to buy Harry Potter at midnight. He was on my doorstep first thing Saturday morning.


5. My brother does lots of nice things for me. There could probably be a list of 10+ just on him. When I got home on Thursday night, there was one of those giant roaches in my living room. I ran upstairs to get my bug spray (since it's never where you need it to be). I tried to spray it. Yeah, there wasn't enough spray left in it to shoot very far and what did come out fell in big blobs. I managed to spray it some and then it proceeded to fly. I have the heeby jeebies just thinking about it. Anyway, I went upstairs to try to ignore it. I turned on my bedside lamp. A few minutes later, a wasp of some sort was in my lamp. Yeah, no bug spray and for once I wished my household cleaners were actually toxic. My brother and his girlfriend ended up coming over to bring bug spray and remove the bug carcasses. It was something like 10:30pm. Why didn't I just leave to get my own bug spray you ask...because there are only 2 entrances/exits to my house. One was blocked by the twitching roach and the other dropped off into nothingness as my brother was in the process of rebuilding those stairs. It was a swell evening.


6. I have had two people ask me to be their maid of honor. I've been in a few additional weddings. It's just nice to know that people care enough about me and our friendship to want me to be there on their special day (in nice dresses, too).


7. Since my mom's death, I have been taken in by several of my friends' families. I have been asked to spend holidays with them. They give me motherly advice. They have taught me that your family extends way beyond the one you were born into.


8. A "surprise" 30th birthday party was thrown for me a few months ago. Even though it wasn't a surprise, it's the thought that counts. It was a fun time.


9. All my friends have stuck around for the most part regardless of what's gone on in my life or how snarky I can be. Those who have drifted out have done so because of diverging paths. I know that we could fall back into being friends easily if/when the time came.


10. This one relates to #7 but was so nice it deserved its own number. The Brother's girlfriend's parents are very nice people. It's been fun getting to know them. Her mother has done two exceptionally nice things since I've known her. At Christmas, she had a stocking ordered for me (and one for my brother) that matched the rest of the family's and were monogrammed. And for my housewarming party, she made all the food and even crafted little cookbooks to serve as favors. Too, too nice. I know, I've said nice 3 times now. But it was.