After I turned in my two-week notice that I was resigning as The Ledger’s editor, I began to go around town and tell the people I was closest to the news because I didn’t want them to read it in the paper.
I wanted them to hear it from me first.
This wasn’t easy.
I told one shop owner, and she told me to get out of her store.
She was joking of course, but she said she was sad that I was leaving, even if she did understand my reasons.
A local insurance agent said, “That sucks.”
It does, but he too understood.
The hardest person to say goodbye to was my neighbor across the street.
His name is John Hanes.
He was one of the first people to make me feel at home in Moundridge, and I considered him one of my closest friends in Moundridge.
He has been plagued with health problems, and his situation isn’t getting any better. He recently had surgery on his heart again and now he said the doctor is talking about doing work on his leg arteries.
I didn’t want to dump more bad news on him, but I had to tell him.
When I laid the news on him, he threatened to get up and kick me in the head. Though the thought of him doing that was quite amusing to me, it still made me sad, especially when he talked about my little brother, Troy.
“I just got to know you,” he said. “Now I won’t get to see Troy anymore either.”
I swear it looked like his eyes were misting up.
I about started crying.
I assured him, though, that whenever I was in town I would stop by to say hello.
He said I better or he would find a stick bigger than his cane to beat me with.
We agreed that was only fair, and I walked back across the street.
Telling people goodbye is hard and it makes me sad, but at least everyone has been supportive.
I’m going to miss everyone, but this move just feels right. I hope everyone continues to understand.
