Spring of hope, winter of despair

Dickens said "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times," and for all I know he could've been talking about my life over the last few weeks.

For me, leaving the Community Free Press has been a humbling, and yet blessed experience. We've been so broke and I have been pretty stressed, but walking through it I have been able to see and feel a tremendous amount of support from my family and friends that I wouldn't have known was there otherwise.

Today, in particular, has been pretty good.

I finally saw my SN-L byline. The autism fundraising story I penned, or as I like to say, wroteded, is now up on the News-Leader website. I was told it would first run in the Christian County edition of the paper, and then I would see it in the daily N-L after May 19. I haven't pulled it from the stands yet, so I am still looking forward to that. As a writer and someone that has lived in Springfield most of my life, I have to say it is feels pretty rewarding to see my story hitting the pages of the paper I've read since I was 9.

But also, I'm very proud of a couple of things in CFP's most recent issue. Dale Isackson, a.k.a. The Jeweler, wrote what amounts to my first fan letter. It's on Page 6. I had interviewed Isackson for the "15 minutes with" feature in the previous issue.

Then on Page 8, there's the Garden Cafe story, which features another local family that is living with autism. And on Page 10 is one of my favorite stories ever. In it, I interviewed Howard Hufford, a Korean War veteran, and he talked about the work he and his wife have done to teach others flag etiquette and history.

So things are turning up roses, I guess. I thought I was ushering in a new age of foolishness, but perhaps it's a glorious new age of wisdom. Sorry Dickens, but it's feast or famine around here. Before you know it I'll be blubbering in my ice cream about my "great new job" selling cars. When does the age of manageable malaise begin?