100 Awesome People

Cheating a bit by jumping to Day 8, but this was one I was able to combine with another day so I can catch up!

Before presenting my list, I need to explain that some of the people I think are awesome are people whose names I do not know, so I’ve divided my list into two sections: first are those I named and second are those I listed by accomplishment/profession, etc. A lot of the latter are the unsung heroes of everyday life. Maybe that’s cheating, but hey, it’s my awesome!

So first, here are the names of some awesome people whose names I know:

1. Jesus Christ (I debated … God or man, God or man … but had way too much Catholic guilt to leave Him out)
2. Jackie Onassis (grace under fire – awesome!)
3. Mother Teresa
4. Abraham Lincoln
5. Capt. Sulley (pilot of Miracle on the Hudson)
6. Pope John Paul II
7. Paul Newman
8. Bill Wilson
9. George W. Bush (no hatin’ …)
10. Rudy Giuliani
11. Laura at Dr. Sharpe’s office
12. Barbara at Milford Pediatrics
13. Mrs. Harrington, my 4th grade teacher
14. Mrs. Donato, my high school English teacher who nurtured my love of writing
15. Mrs. Tolomeo, my kids’ 3rd grade teacher
16. Mrs. Moe, my daughter’s preschool teacher
17. Mrs. Swift, my daughter’s other preschool teacher – both these ladies were pretty convinced she’d be the first woman president
18. My Seaside Sisters (and Brothers)
19. Mr. Rogers
20. Jim Henson
21. Louis Armstrong
22. Martin Luther King
23. Donna D
24. Gail W
25. Bill O’Reilly (see # 9)
26. Robert Ballard (OK, he’s totally self-impressed, but he did find the Titanic)
27. John Walsh (founder of National Center for Missing & Exploited Children – turning a horrible negative into a positive)
28. William Moyers, Jr.
29. Dan Fogelberg
30. Angelina Jolie
31. FDR
32. Winston Churchill
33. Ayn Rand
34. Charles Dickens
35. Andrew Lloyd Webber
36. Frank Wildhorn
37. Eleanor Roosevelt
38. Mary Todd Lincoln
39. John Lennon
40. St. Francis of Assisi
41. St. Monica (you try having St. Augustine as a kid)
42. Bill Gates (sometimes)
43. Gandhi
44. Caroline Knapp
45. Dalai Lama
46. Guy Lombardo
47. Tiger Woods’ wife (nice swing)
48. Derek Jeter
49. Albert Einstein
50. Capt. Edward Smith (Titanic)
51. Claire (my massage therapist)
52. Jill (my hairdresser)
53. Geocaching friends
54. Facebook friends
55. Louise & Sparky
56. Dara
57. Walt Disney

And now for the more generic (but no less awesome) people:

58. 9/11 emergency workers
59. Flight 93 passengers
60. Our troops and veterans
61. Milford Hospital nurses who took care of my dad
62. Apollo 11 astronauts
63. Oncology healthcare workers
64. First responders
65. Teachers
66. Mentors
67. Volunteers
68. Convenience store clerks
69. Fast-food workers
70. The guy who makes the most excellent coffee at Dunkin Donuts
71. Community event organizers
72. Flight attendants
73. American customer service reps (a dying breed)
74. Waitstaff
75. Sanitation workers (only those who do not leave my trash blowing down the street)
76. Toll takers
77. Mail carriers
78. Newspaper delivery people
79. Oil workers
80. American factory workers (another dying breed)
81. Single parents
82. People in recovery
83. Cancer survivors
84. Trauma survivors
85. Hospital workers
86. Farmers
87. Veterinarians
88. Animal rescuers
89. Anyone who was in the Resistance in WWII
90. Civil Rights activists
91. Women’s Rights activists
92. Patriots (the Revolutionary War type, not the football team)
93. Great clients
94. Little old Italian ladies at church
95. Funeral directors
96. Drivers (bus, train, cab, plane …)
97. People who have touched my life in a positive way
98. People who have touched my life in a negative way and forced me to grow
99. People who will touch my life in the future
100. And of course … MOI!