Observer writer pens farewell letter

This will be my last article in the Observer. Maybe

Let me back up a bit. I moved to Bay Village in July 2004. It was the start of Bay Days (the annual summer carnival) and, with that, my love for this community bloomed. Bay is a quaint city with a small town feel that I have always been attracted to. Bay Days – and the house that we moved into – were both positive signs that the decision we made to move here was right.

My feelings were further confirmed in October while taking my daughter (then 6 years old) on the Halloween Walk through the Bay Village business district. There, outside of Walgreens, we encountered a woman dressed as a parrot that we later learned was Mayor Debbie Sutherland. It was such a warm welcome.

A few years later, I would find welcome from another staple of this fine community. The welcome mat even reads: "Free to read, Free to write." It was the Westlake | Bay Village Observer. It became a place that changed me as a writer forever. It gave me an outlet to express myself; even challenging me in some articles. But, the greatest thing for me was that I was writing, it was getting published and read, and I was receiving feedback. It let me know that I could, indeed, write.

If you are putting pen to paper and expressing your thoughts, you are a writer. But it is such a thrill to see it in print; any writer will say so. Thank you to the Observer for not only being an outlet for me, but to ALL writers. Moreover, thank you for providing the communities of Bay Village and Westlake with a quality publication run by quality people. I have made wonderful friendships there as well; but none more so than with Tara Wendell, the Observer's chief editor. She has helped me with quite a few articles (a couple that just didn't work out) and we worked together to develop the Observer's social media platform.

Nearly two years ago, I decided to get a divorce. I moved to Westlake and I was still a part of the Observer community. But this spring, the unexpected happened. I fell in love with a girl from Akron and moved in with her. Now I'm an Akronite.

And, with that, I feel that my time has come to a close. It has been wonderful and I will never forget it. Thank you to Bay Village and Westlake for being an influential part of my life, thus far. Maybe I will return someday.

I guess that's where the "maybe" comes in. Anything is possible on this dizzying roller coaster ride called life. Until that's determined, I plan to keep writing. I know my fellow Observers will do the same.

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Volume 8, Issue 19, Posted 9:08 AM, 10.04.2016