I'VE always been suss on those sucky, emotional emails with animals in baby clothes or inspirational stories offering Irish luck if you send them on.
But sometimes, and admittedly it's not often, something arrives that's genuinely inspirational and doesn't ask to be shared with anyone. The only reason I read the email was because it was written by an actual, real-life friend.
It went a lot like this: ''If you're looking for heart-warming, tear-jerking, inspirational story, you might have to look elsewhere, but I do have a story that was all those things for me!
''Let me tell you about Siggy: an intelligent, weird, hilariously witty, different, but supremely cool in an unusual way kind of kid. Whilst  Asperger's syndrome doesn't necessarily define him, he could be the pin-up boy for the condition. As the experts say, 'You know one person with Asperger's, you know one person with Asperger's!'
''Anyhoo, we have our ups and downs. Siggy's 12 and has a constant struggle with depression and anxiety. There is so much going on in his amazing mind he has a lot of meltdowns and emotional crashes … and as you're only as happy as your saddest child, I ride that roller-coaster too.
''We found out officially that Sigs was on the spectrum when he was in year 2. Aged 7. The advice was to keep it secret because labelling a child was like putting a target on him. But in year 3, his teacher and I devised a program to tell the other kids in his class, hoping to set up a type of buddy system. It was so successful, we told the whole year and since then, everyone has looked after him. Everyone. It proved what I suspected; that with knowledge comes understanding. It is extremely uncool to bully him, so it just doesn't happen.
''I know that anything worthwhile is hard work and Siggy is worth every tear, I just never imagined the elation I would feel when he was voted by his peers to be house captain. This is unheard of for an Aspie, and the outpouring of joy from all the parents and kids almost killed me. It was truly the happiest day of my life.
''As house captain, Siggy's racked up a few mental health days but as the school cross country approached, the monster meltdowns were getting tougher … he could have opted out, but as house captain, wouldn't hear of it.
''Race day went quite well and eventually, the last race was called. Siggy's race, a three-kilometre marathon. He quickly fell behind but kept trying. One of the teachers saw him at the back of the field, alone, and ran with him offering inspiration and someone to chat to. Then, one by one, as the kids finished their own race, they returned to the field to run with him. By the time Siggy was on his last lap he had over 20 kids running alongside him.
''It didn't take long for the crowd to start cheering and the rest of year 6, I kid you not, THE ENTIRE YEAR rallied to meet him on the last bend. They all finished together, Siggy's giant heart was pounding, he was running as fast as he could with a huge smile on his face. Meanwhile, I'm bawling my eyes out, trying to take photos.
''It's the perfect metaphor for his life so far. Everyone finished the race together!
''You don't have to share this with anybody, I just thought you might like it yourself.''