As I mentioned earlier this week, it's a pretty heady week here at the Heron's Nest.
Not only this one, but the "nest" at home as well.
Yes, I first stepped foot in the Daily Times on June 14, 1982. Flag Day.
Almost exactly one year later, I made the best decision of my life.
I married the woman who had waited - probably a lot longer than she should have - for me to pop the question.
Little did she know what she was getting herself into.
Ask anyone who has been in this business for any amount of time. This racket is very tough on personal relationships. I can't count the number of fractured lives I have seen over the course of these past three decades.
I got married on June 18, 1983.
So I will mark 34 years of wedded bliss this weekend.
Or, as my wife presciently always points out, "I'm always trying to catch up with the newspaper."
She's not kidding.
I have often joked that my wife has shared me all these years with my "mistress," the Daily Times.
I was only half-joking.
The truth is, she pretty much was a solo act on the home front. She took care of things there, while I was here. She kept the books, managed the house, and - most importantly - took the lead in raising two fantastic kids.
In short, I worked, she did everything else.
I don't doubt that many times in all those moments she spent alone - when I was not there - that she pondered kicking my sorry behind to the curb and starting over.
She never did.
For a long time I worked nights and weekends. We would be like ships in the night. After the kids were born, I would try to get up to see them off to school. I didn't always get there, just as I was so often not there during so many family events.
Where was I? Work, of course.
She stayed with me through promotions, and has been at my side the last 18 years as I've sat in the editor's chair.
I don't think either one of us was quite prepared for what the Internet would do to this business - and the job.
Those long hours suddenly became a 24-hour, non-stop news cycle. These days we're a threesome. No, it's not what you might think. It's me, my wife, and the laptop. She is not always amused.
Try living with that for awhile.
But she persevered.
And for that I likely will never be able to repay her.
But it's probably about time I start.
Maybe I can start here: Happy anniversary.
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