As you know, Fort Thomas Matters is merging with River City News to form LINK NKY, a regional news outlet. As a result, this platform will redirect which means that I will not be sharing our stories and my observations on this platform any longer. So this is my farewell column.
Seven years ago Mark Collier approached me about writing for Fort Thomas Matters. He wasn’t sure what he needed from me and I wasn’t sure what I had to offer. I was hesitant at first but I eventually gave it a whirl. And, well, here we are seven years later. I want to publicly thank Mark for the opportunity to share your stories and life lessons.
I interviewed musicians, artists, business people, teachers, students, leaders, parents, children, addicts, influencers, community organizers, and common yet uncommon people. I had the opportunity to comment on current events, our history, and our human condition.
There are two personal highlights to the last seven years. Mark Collier and I organized the Story Matters series at Fort Thomas Coffee for the Sequicentennial in 2017 that presented local storytellers in the community to project the essence of the community. I had fun searching out speakers and helping them craft their stories. And then in 2018 I began to chronicle three years of my cancer journey in hopes of removing that stigma by facilitating a discussion about disease and death and health. As a result of that victory I was invited to be the keynote speaker for the 2019 Light the Night fundraising event fo the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society. I was inspired by survivors and humbled by the losses of too many to that awful disease.
As a result of writing for Fort Thomas Matters other opportunities arose. I had the opportunity to serve on the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Education and Family Life Roundtable and was published there, was published by the Louisville Courier-Journal, and I met with talented columnists through the National Society of Newspaper Columnists where I got to rub shoulders with Pulitzer Prize winners. I have judged their annual competition for a few years now and I have to admit that they are the best teachers.
But now everything is in flux. I am not sure if my column will be picked up by another outlet. But I’ve been around long enough to not worry about such things. Each opportunity is another step in my evolution. Doors open and close all of the time. The next door will open a whole new world. I am a life long learner and I have lots more to say and do.
There is something I wrote at the end of my 2020-in-review column that is worth repeating. “I am fortunate that I get to interview fascinating community members doing interesting things. I am encouraged and inspired by you. You are good teachers. Good role models. Good people. I enjoy every conversation…. I want to get to the core of a subject and talk about ideas and what we are learning.
“We are far more alike than different. We fret over family, friends, responsibilities, health, making a living, and making a life.… Even though there are attempts to distort politics, religion, education, race, or money with intention to divide us or pit one against the other, the ultimate truth is that we help ourselves when we help another.” And we always help.
There are too many people to thank for their kindness of time and insight, but thank you for trusting me with your stories.
Life is full of beginnings and endings and interesting middles so this is not so much a farewell but more of a thank you. Thank you for reading what I wrote. Thank you for the stories. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for making me better. The Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” So forward I go. I look back with fondness but forward with excitement. Not sure where I’m going or what I’m going to do or what opportunities will appear, but it’s a big world and I get to pave that path. And that’s exciting.