Gotta nominate my man @blewitt.

Earlier this year, my wife underwent a fairly extensive surgery necessitating a three-day stay in the hospital. We live in the US, and while we have medical insurance, we hadn't yet met our deductible for the calendar year. Our out-of-pocket expenses amounted to several thousand dollars.

We were able to set up a payment plan with the hospital, but in order to do so, they needed a percentage of our balance up front. We had some money set back, but not enough to cover what they were asking without cutting deeply into our current paychecks.

Enter @blewitt, a guy I've never met IRL. Knowing he was on a STEEM-buying rampage, I messaged him and asked if he'd be interested in buying some of mine, as I'd been powering down in anticipation of needing to sell it off to make up the difference. Without even hesitating, he asked how much I was looking to sell. I told him, we agreed on a price, and in a matter of a couple of weeks, I had the funds sitting in my Paypal account. The next day, my wife and I were able to make that starter payment and buy our groceries with what was left over.

A lot of crappy stuff happened in my life in 2018, with medical problems, the loss of a beloved pet, and more. But Chris, whose hand I've never gotten the opportunity to shake because he lives some eleven hours away from me, unhesitatingly jumped in to help when the chips were down. Without him, without Steemit, I'm not sure what my wife and I would have done (except run up the balance on our credit card).

If anyone deserves to be rewarded for his assistance and good will, it's him. Thank you, Chris. And Merry Christmas.