The Best Moment Award presented to..

 

 The incredibly talented, kind, author Melissa Janda has nominated me for the Best Moment Award! What an honor it is to accept this award. I"m actually speechless. If I were a very talkative person, that in itself would be a blessing! My acceptance speech will follow shortly.
Here are the rules:
Winners re-post this completely with their acceptance speech. This could be written or video recorded. Winners have the privilege of awarding the next awardees! The re-post should include a NEW set of people/blogs worthy of the award with notification sent to them of the great news. Display the award’s badge on your blog/website.
Resources: What makes a good acceptance speech?

• Gratitude. Thank the people who helped you along the way.
• Humor. Keep us entertained and smiling.
• Inspiration. Make your story touch our lives.

Get an idea from the great acceptance speeches compiled in MomentMatters.com/Speech.
 My Acceptance Speech:
My career as an author began as I was searching for something suitable to do for a living. I guess it's a little like my Character" Charlene" in my children's book, Charlene the Star. Charlene was not convinced that racing was her thing, even though everyone in her family was famous for it. She had to so some serious thinking about what she wanted to become. I had no idea what would be a good fit for me. But one morning I had a strong intuition that I should write a story for children. Writers are often counseled to "write what you know," so I followed that sage advice and wrote my autobiography, Tails of Sweetbrier. It's about a little girl who wants nothing more than to become a champion equestrian, although she had an obstacle to overcome. She was born with cerebral palsy, which affected walking. My dad started a riding school so that he could help me realize my dream. I owe him a great deal for making that decision because we began an amazing journey together. I didn't write the story to make children think I was super human and had done some unbelievable feat. I wanted to show them that nothing is impossible if you persevere. Another thing our parents always said was, "Be grateful for what you are given." I'm so blessed to be able to write stories for children. But also, that I could type this speech to you, rather than standing in front of you doing a presentation. My knees would be shaking and you'd all be distracted!
Special thanks to all of you who have stopped by my blog. I never imagined I'd even be writing one. But it's fun getting to know you and I love hearing your comments.
And the nominees are:

1. Janice Spina: http://jemsbooks.wordpress.com
2. Jamie Saloff: www.polkadotbanner.com
3. Elizabeth Seckman: eseckman.blogspot.com
4. Carla Burke: Carla-Burke.blogspot.com
5. Sherry Ellis: sellis.blogspot.com
6. Eileen Dunn Bertanzetti- eileendunnbertanzetti.blogspot.com
7. Claire Power Murphy: www.womensradio.com.
8. Kevin Hanrahan: www.khanrahan.com 
9. Amy Jarecki- amyjarecki.blogspot.com
10. S. K. Anthony: www.skanthony.com

*I know that some of these people may be too busy to respond, but I wanted to acknowledge their talents because they all make a positive difference to countless people.