As time marches on, I’m occasionally reminded about how much things have changed. Most of it happens incrementally and sometimes you need to look in the rearview mirror to even notice.
Change can and does happen with an Sept. mark as it did on September 11, 2001. So many things remain different now based on the events of that day.
On a more personal level, the death of a loved one brings unwanted and permanent change.
It’s the incremental change that has been on my mind lately. A friend told me last week that she was leaving the newspaper industry. She was one of the few people I would pick up the phone to ask advice from. We helped each other many times over the past 20 years. She has been a friend since I was a 30-year-old rookie publisher who barely knew anything. Now, at 53, I’m a little more seasoned and can lean on years of experience. That doesn’t mean I don’t need occasional help from an old friend.
Looking in the rearview mirror, I realized that nearly all of my mentors and peers from way back have left the industry.
Most were Baby Boomers who decided to retire. The rest have changed professions, fairly commonplace in today’s age of “the Great Resignation.”
Thirty-year-old me would have rolled his eyes when old fogies in their 50s reminisced about the good old days.
Fifty-three-year-old me is much wiser. I would never call someone in their 50s old.
Talking to my friend last week, we did our fair share of reminiscing. She will be the executive director for a non-profit, a path I also followed when I left the newspaper industry 13 years ago. It was a great experience but I found myself missing this business.
This week I was asked about a mutual friend who, coincidentally, also left the industry. He had been an important mentor in my early newspaper days, a relationship that blossomed into a life-long friendship.
A phone call was long overdue.
We talked about our families and jobs. We talked about our friend who left the newspaper industry. We talked about the good old days. It was nice.
Ed Helms’ character Andy Bernard from the TV series “The Office” summed it up: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”
What a wonderful thought.
I’m grateful for those old friendships. At the same time, I appreciate the changes that have happened along the way. The journey has been spectacular.
dougb@news-banner.com
