Well I’m happy to say this might be the last time you are going to hear from me for a bit.

We have a reporter! When Ezra told me he was leaving, I must say, I wasn’t that sad. One thing I have learned in this industry is that we only seem to keep reporters for a small period of time. Two years seems to be the golden period. They have learned all they can from a small town newspaper and they are off to the big world of corporately owned publications. To be honest most times, with the exception of a few, I wasn’t sad to see them leave.

Reporting is sometimes a difficult job. You are pounding the pavement seven days a week. The news doesn’t keep regular business hours and lots of reporters become stale, for lack of a better word.

When I set out to find a new reporter, I had a very clear image of what I wanted. Fresh, excited, enthusiastic and driven. Well, after ten interviews from all over the country and even South Africa, I picked Anna and boy she hasn’t disappointed after her first week of work. So please everyone welcome the newest addition to our team and family and treat her with the familiarity and kindness I am always in awe of from this community.

I attended Fantin’s Christmas Memorial on Sunday. Last year, I tried to go and made it as far as the parking lot. This year, I made it though the doors.

I have known Darrell and Moo for over 17 years. They are the God Parents to my Quinn. I’ve travelled with them, laughed with them, ate Moo’s food and drank moonshine with them. I’ve raised a son beside them, they buried both my parents, and still this many years later, their kindness and professionalism astounds me. They are truly doing the work of God, not as much in the religious sense, though they are that too, but in the kindness, compassion and understanding that God has for us, his flock.

For those who have lost a loved one, I urge you to attend next year. The ceremony gave me peace that I have not often felt in the last three years.

This weekend, I set up my house for Christmas and I must say that it looks like Santa did indeed throw up in my house.

As I’m putting up decorations, I asked the boys what they were thinking. Aiden said, “Mom, I love how much you love Christmas. You decorate the house so awesome and one day when I marry and have kids, I’m going to make sure I carry on the tradition”.

That one stopped me in my tracks. That tradition. My mom and dad loved Christmas, decorating the inside and outside to rival any Griswold Christmas movie. They passed it on to me and now I’ve passed it on to my boys. In this my parents will live on, in memories and traditions.

Last year I barely made it through Christmas. This year it still hurts, not a piercing pain, but more a dull ache. With Aiden’s wise words, I gained some perspective. My parents will carry on through my memories of Christmas and as time passes, new memories will be made to pass down to my boys. So get up, decorate the crap out of your house, hug your kids, give them memories because at the end of the day that’s what never dies. Merry Christmas my friends in this ‘Garden of Eden’.