"The Nice One"

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"The nice one." I clearly remember hearing a boy call me that in high school. He didn't know I was behind him in the hall. He and a buddy were talking about girls in our Senior class, including me. I recall that they were grading several of us in a multitude of categories. I'll clean them up a bit but they basically consisted of: beautiful, date-able, Prom-worthy, marriage material, supermodel gorgeous. 

When my name rolled around, I got the moniker of "the nice one." At the time, I was quite hurt. #Teenagers #HighSchoolLife 

It reminded me that, two years before, I was sitting in class participating in an Honors English group project when the three boys in my group started rating the other gals in the room, excluding our teacher, of course.

"I'd go out with her in a heartbeat!" one said of one particularly striking blonde girl seated across the room. The chorus concurred and then the round table on the level of attractiveness of the remaining females ensued. Offensive? Definitely. But we are talking about 15/16-year-old boys in 1984. #Clueless

When the judges failed to give me a score, I remarked, "What, nothing to say about present company?" "Oh, come on, Patty. We wouldn't do that to you," said one boy. Well, certainly! Not when I'm sitting four inches away. "Besides, you're the smart one," offered another boy. Hardly. But, hurt though I was not to have even registered on the scale, even at 15 I was tremendously flattered to be considered intelligent. I'd have been even more grateful if the sentiment was sincere, Capisce? #Boys

Ah, what a difference 30+ years make. Because, in my old age, I cannot read near or far without my bi-focals but I can clearly see that "The Smart One" and "The Nice One" are labels I welcome every single day and twice on Sunday. Look, I'm very well aware of the gorgeous group of gals in my circle...and that I don't fit that bill. That's okay for two reasons: #1=I'm a firm believer that pretty only matters from the inside out and #2=My husband seems to see me from the inside out. Pretty sure he thinks I'm also nice...even smart! #ThanksKer #BigPicture #BeautyFades #NiceBeatsPrettyEveryTime

Mt 11:25 R. Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom. Gospel Mt 11:25-27 At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

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