Ten Years

Yesterday was a significant day for me in many ways.

I turned 62 and a half (because we recognize half birthdays in my family).

It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which should be a day or service instead of a day off. So I tried to be extra nice to the people caring for me in the hospital and worked diligently at copyediting "The Fifth" by Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara as my energy allowed.

It was the day that Joliet's MLK Day of Service was canceled due to weather, a disappointment on so many levels. It was the day I was finally hoping to cover the event. I'd written many pre-stories over the years but covering it has never actually worked out. I will try again next year!

It was the day I came home from the hospital.

And it was the day, ten years ago, I became an actual employee of The Herald-News under Shaw Media. )Ironically, I was sick that day, too. If anything, I'm consistent!).

I had freelanced feature stories for the publication since 1998. a real honor since I grew up reading that newspaper (my family always had a subscription).

I wrote so many pieces that many people were surprised I wasn't an employee when I announced my hire. They thought I already was.

Journalism as an industry has undergone so many changes since I was a child, since I was a young adult, since I started freelancing (on an electric typewriter with plenty of whiteout - remember that?), since the advent of social media, and even in the ten years since I was hired.

I am really, really surprised in a very good and humbling way that I am still here, that my relevancy hasn't (yet) expired. 

The best way to honor that, I feel, is to get some work done today and give it my very best. The last image is a card someone had given me in gratitude for a story I had written. It was one of my reminders of why I was there that I kept tacked on the bulletin board at my desk.

Happy Tuesday!