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Hello folks . . .

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is official; the holidays are here. They were heralded in by 5,000 calories on a plate, Uncle Joe sleeping it off in front of the football game, and crazy people shopping door-buster deals at 3:00 am. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a fist fight over a flat-screen TV.

All jokes aside, I received an early Christmas gift from my friend Maggie Myklebust at Fly Away Home Books. Granted, she was in a post-virtual-cocktail-party-stupor when she gave it to me, but I am thankful nonetheless.

In all her foggy-headed wisdom, she bestowed this blog with the 2012 Blog of the Year award. I can hear Maggie saying right now, “I did whaaaaaa? Someone hand me the Pepto.”

Who, me?

The timing of her misguided generosity in naming this humble blog as a 2012 Blog of the Year is in sync with a post rattling around in my head. I recently asked in an unscientific study:

Why did you start a blog?

Why do you keep blogging?

What do you want/get out of blogging?

Price Waterhouse analyzed the answers and reported the results to me in an envelope sealed with a cool gold sticker. Just like at the Academy Awards.

To a man, woman, and child, we started blogging for different reasons, but we KEEP blogging for the same reason  . . . the wonderful community spirit and fellowship we’ve found in the blogosphere. Ella Dee said it best when she described it as a “WordPress Community Garden.”

We talk about the aura, feel, and appeal of blogging. It is mysterious and hard to name. However, I have concrete examples of the magic that has happened to me because of my blog. I bet you have similar stories.

In a comment conversation with Mike Allegra on his blog Hey Look a Writer Fellow, I jokingly asked him to do one of his cute doodles for my daughter in the Army. Bam . . . two days later this was in my mailbox.

BCGs are Birth Control Glasses. No need for Birth Control when you wear these!

Mike did this doodle even though he was busy swimming upstream in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy’s deluge. While doing the backstroke, he made sure it arrived in time for Veteran’s Day. How is that for community spirit?

While I was in the throes of my dad in critical condition in the hospital, Unfettered BS, T.W. Dittmer, All Things Boys Blog, and Maddie Cochere at Breezy Books, sent emails to check in on me. (My apologies if I am forgetting anyone.) Paula Acton sent me a letter in the mail from jolly old England. These folks don’t know my dad or me. But their kind and caring spirit shined through their words. Their notes came at opportune times for me . . . when I was at my lowest point.

All Thing Boys Blog and Corey, M.P. became beta readers of my novel after I bribed them with chocolate. I’m kidding. They volunteered. Like they don’t have enough on their plate. Their comments and suggestions were invaluable.

Carrie Rubin at The Write Transition mentioned my Strong vs Weak Word series in the acknowledgements of her freshly published novel Seneca Scourge. If that wasn’t enough to make my button burst, she sent me an autographed copy of her book. She didn’t need to do that; even though it may be the only time I see my name in print.

On a similar note, Maddie at Breezy Books gifted me a copy of her book after she stumbled upon my Strong vs Weak Word series. I suspect it was a bribe to keep me from doing any further posts in the series.

Pete Denton was smart crazy enough to give this blog its first award. Pete’s kindness gave me the confidence to keep going at a time when I thought, “Why the heck am I doing this?” and was ready to toss in the towel and keyboard.

A happy-go-lucky and witty blogger started a private blog as a place to share the darker side of her life story. I was one of the first people she invited to her private blog. I am touched that she feels safe in sharing her world with me.

Over the summer I posted the letters our daughter Amanda sent us from Army Basic Training and your heartfelt support of her commitment to our country made me cry more than once. Let’s not forget the dozens of letters my bloggy friends sent to her platoon. No one needed to do that, but you did.

Then, there are the faithful followers, likers, and commenters who play along with me even when my post is lame-o.

There are many more examples of “the magic,” but I’ll leave it at that for now.

The rules of accepting this award aren’t fair. One of the rules is to NOT alter the rules, to which I say:

Dear Thinker-Upper-of This-Award:

You ask the impossible in telling me to single out blogs for this award. Ergo, I won’t. The list of my nominees would too long and the post would set a world’s record for “Most Links in one Post.”

Respectfully,

Robin “The Rule Breaker” Coyle

Thank you Maggie for this honor. I am blessed to have you, and all my other blogging friends as, well . . . friends.

What magic has happened to you because of your blog?

P. S. My dad is back in the hospital. I’ll be in and out of blogging and reading blogs once again.