I'd like to tell you about the way my morning started. Last night, the pressure changed on our mountain. A storm was brewing, and as usual, it reeked havoc on the pressure in my brain. I went to bed hoping that the headache that was forming would be soothed away after a night's sleep. This morning, I found it had built with a vengeance.

Laying there in bed, I dreaded leaving the warmth of my blankets. In order to build a fire, I'd have to brave the chilly living room. I also craved a nice warm drink, but that meant standing in front of the stove, waiting for the water to heat. After I finally was encouraged to race to my recliner, (3..2..1.. Go! @shadowspub!) I was welcomed by a surprise.

My daughter had gotten out of bed before me and made a beautiful fire. Like a little girl, I squealed, "You made a fire?!"
She replied, "...and cocoa!"

Within 1 minute, she had me tucked into my recliner with a blanket, handed me some pills for my headache, and placed a delicious cup of cocoa - with whipped cream - into my hands. Not only was it a special treat - but it was even more special because I never had to ask for a thing! She just anticipated a need, and filled it.

It is - I just wanted you to have a little glimpse of my morning, so that I could relate it to some unforeseen "repercussions" of HF20. You might think this will be a negative post? After all, there has been lots to say on either side. But no - this is actually a post of gratitude.

Over the last week, there has been a lot of anxiety, frustration and confusion over HF20. Though we all know that this is a good move overall, we got hit with the discomfort of change. Some of us were hit more than others. For the last 6 months, I've enjoyed watching our family grow in Welcome Wagon. When the reality of Resource Credits hit our newbies, it hit us all hard. Our graduates were scared watching their RC's drain away, while they enjoyed commenting to stay afloat and relevant on our platform.

There were many discussions about what to do, and many conversations (some heated in passionate debate) over how we could help our grads overcome this restriction. Needless to say, we were disheartened. I felt like they were forgotten and I couldn't reconcile how we would continue to encourage our newbies for the future.

And then the generosity began to pour in. When difficulties strike, that is the time when you see a community rally together. These past few days have been no exception to that. We have had countless examples - from an older Grad passing along their winnings from a contest to a younger Grad in need - to anonymous delegations and encouragement galore. It has been overflowing. And we never needed to ask. Our grads have been loved, and loved well - and we haven't needed to ask for a thing.

When I first came to Steemit, I was excited about the opportunity to write, engage, and build a following. It was very "self-centered" only because I didn't know there was anything else to gain. Wasn't it just about being paid for your contribution to the platform?

Within a short period of time, I formed real friendships. Within a few weeks, I joined group challenges and started to find a community. Then, of course this year in April - Welcome Wagon was born and we formed a new community focused entirely on building newbies in order to improve retention and strengthen Steemit. When the latest saga of negativity hits, we all get discouraged. We take our eyes off what matters. We wonder if it still matters at all.

I won't name you because you know who you are and many of you asked to be anonymous. I just wanted to take the time to thank you - not only for your generosity, but for your reminder to me about what is most important about Steemit: Genuine community.

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