60,000 words of reflection

This year I wrote and published more than 60,000 words in my weekly columns. If you’ve read them all, you can add one more to the number of books you’ve finished, since that’s a typical word count for a full-length publication.

I found out this week the Minnesota Newspaper Association will be handing me an award at its February banquet for this very thing–column writing. In fact, we were delighted to learn this week that we’ll be taking home about a dozen awards, some for the newspaper as a whole and some for individual work created by our writers. We don’t know for sure what place we took in the dozen categories. They’ve told us we’re ranked among the winners–where we ranked will be revealed at the February 1 banquet.

I remember going through the submission process. I had known for months that the deadline was approaching, and that there are 47 categories, ranging from advertisements to websites. Although I knew we didn’t have entries under all 47, there were still many where I felt we had done some truly fine work. It was a time-consuming task. We had to collect a year’s worth of issues and go through them, considering what columns, articles, photos, and sections we regarded as some of our best. There are many, constant demands on my time, and here was one more thing to do.

Still, if we wanted to see how our work stacks up against the other more than 250 newspapers in the state, it had to be done.

With our decisions made, our entries were submitted electronically and it was time to…wait.

I had no idea what to expect. After all, there were more than 4,400 entries submitted in Minnesota’s Better Newspaper writing contest. More about that later, in February, when I know more. 

This year has been fulfilling. 

I’ve learned a lot. 

I’m incredibly thankful for a tremendous number of things. 

We celebrated another year in business.

I learned that humor may not always come across well, expressed in a column. 

Many, many, many people told me how much they value the newspaper. 

I had some health scares. My friends had some health scares. Frankly, a few too many scares, if you ask me. 

As I prepare for 2024, I can’t help but feel optimistic. I know I still need to slow down and continue recovering, but I’m fighting the urge to run full speed ahead. All in good time. 

This weekend I celebrated the first of a string of Christmas dinners, this one at my grandmother's house. Thank you Kathy Richardson, and my mother, for a great meal, and even better company. 

The biggest lesson I learned this year, I have to say, is that we should simply enjoy the passage of time. However you choose to do so, please do it in a healthy way, that doesn’t harm anyone, and optimally, brings joy to those close to you–including yourself. 

I find myself worrying more for those I care about. As the people I care about in the generations ahead of mine grow older, I want to, rather I will, value the quality time I continue to have with them. 

My parents first and foremost. Seeing someone lose their parents, quickly, or slowly, is a difficult process. We must all bow to inevitability, so I have been led to realize the importance of appreciating, and enjoying, every day I have my parents. 

I love my dad’s late-night phone calls. He likes to find an excuse to call me late at night. I imagine him, sitting at home, asking himself, “What can I call Eli for?”

Dad, you don’t need a reason to call, ever. Just to see how I’m doing is good enough. 

Mom, please just answer your phone a little more often, Will ya?

My sister celebrated the birth of her first child this year. Talk about exciting. My parents were starting to wonder if they would ever have grandchildren. Now they have one. And, Nathan, my oldest brother, is in a serious relationship, too. And she seems pretty cool. 

Looking back at 2023 I’m grateful for a great many things. I’m glad the newspaper is doing well. More importantly, I’m blessed with relationships we’ve developed because of the newspaper. I feel very connected with those around me, every day. There’s not much more a person can ask for in life than to be surrounded by people they care about and vice versa. 

This week at the paper has been a busy one. We do not print a newspaper the final week of the year, so this will be my final column of the year. 

I would like to take this time to thank our many readers, advertisers, staff, and everyone else who makes the paper possible for their tremendous support this year. 

Here’s wishing you a blessed, and happy 2024. 

“I find my happiness where the sun shines,” unknown.