Thankful Thursday

 Hello everyone, 

Today we are joining Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday blog hop.

I am so thankful for our good friend, Melissa, at Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, & Meows.

See, I entered the annual Cat Writers' Association Communications Contest earlier this year. I earned three Certificates of Excellence. I've been entering the contest since 2019. Every year after the results have been tabulated and the certificate winners announced, the Cat Writers' Association sends us beautiful printed Certificates of Excellence. I have a few of mine framed. 

Well, this year, things changed. The organization decided to stop printing and sending the certificates. Instead, they are now sending digital certificates. 

Apparently this was a "policy change" they didn't feel was important to share with the contest entrants either before or during the contest. It was only after someone explicitly asked about the printed certificates that they told us about this change.

I know, I know. This post doesn't sound very thankful, but I promise, I'm getting there. 

I was rather sad because I've spent years trying to get a Certificate of Excellence for a personal piece. I know I can write non-fiction articles well. But I've always struggled with writing about my own feelings when it comes to my kitties. They mean so much to me that it is difficult for me to articulate in words. My cats are my world and (for the longest time) my sole support system. 

I've submitted several personal pieces over the last 7 years but never received a Certificate of Excellence for any of them. 

That is, until now.

This year, I received a Certificate of Excellence for my piece "Tylan to the Rescue: My Cat Saved Me from a Deadly Eating Disorder." I bared my heart and soul in this piece. I was nervous to submit it because I didn't think it would receive a Certificate of Excellence, and I knew that would sting. 

But I won a certificate for it! 

I was sad that I wasn't going to be able to frame a printed Certificate of Excellence for this piece because I am so proud of it. 

And then Melissa offered to have my certificates printed when she went and printed hers. And I was beyond touched! It may seem like a little thing, but to me, it was HUGE. The fact that she thought of me and my inability to run to a Staples to do it myself just about made me cry. I feel like a lot of disabled folks are just forgotten about in today's world. It means so much that she thought of me. 

I just received my printed certificates a couple of days ago in the mail and they are beautiful! I am going to look for a frame for the one I'm most proud of on Friday when I go out to Target. I am going to put the other two, as well as all my other unframed certificates, into a scrapbook—an idea I'm stealing from Melissa. :)

Thank you, Melissa, for thinking of me and for being such a good friend! I appreciate you!