• 1 broken HVAC heater at the onset of winter
• 1 casual comment about said broken heater and the impending freezing weather to two Twitter friends
• 2 weeks of Tweets and emails between myself, my two Twitter friends and THEIR Twitter friends about some kind of online campaign to “rescue” me from the cold
• 13 people that answered the “call” to “rescue” me from the cold
• The realization that, in spite of what the media wants us to believe, people DO want help each other out of the spirit of goodwill and “family” that we all long for in this fast paced, online world we live in today.

How do you express your sincerest gratitude to folks that have offered to help you out? How do you thank someone that you’ve never met in person? Folks that you have only exchanged tweets and/or emails with? And, even folks that you have NOT met, but rather, are friends of someone you have exchanged tweets with. Obviously, there is Twitter or email and even Facebook. And yet, these all seem to me to be horribly inadequate methods of thanking someone.

Mirjam Spronk (aka @QualityLMiriam on Twitter) is definitely my unsung hero for 2009.  Standing up and offering her time and expertise, from the other side of the world, means more to me than I can possibly express.  This post simply CAN’T convey my gratitude and thankfulness to her. She is definitely a true and real friend. 

And, if it weren’t for my conversations about the Squirrel Nut Zippers with Joi Murugavell (aka @joidesign on Twitter), none of this would have happened.  Therefore, Joi is my second unsung hero for 2009 and another true and real friend. With luck, I will give them both thanks in person someday.

I would add the other 11 people that contacted Mirjam to help out, but sadly, I mostly just have their email addresses, so at this time, I will just say that they deserve “Unsung hero” status too!  However, they are in my thoughts and deserving of the hero status as much as Mirjam and Joi.