Celebrating a milestone

By Staff
Melissa Cason
Franklin County Times
Last week, I turned two-years-old. Actually I should say my career celebrated its second birthday because it was two years ago I started working at the paper. While I did work for college papers and stuff, this job was my first after college.
It was two years ago I walked into the FCT office, and then-publisher Jason Cannon showed me my desk and told me to write the news, so I did. I am still doing it.
My life has changed dramatically since I chose this career path. I am not going to say that I was totally unhappy before but I wasn't where I am today. It wasn't until I started working here that I realized what true joy was like. I know that sounds nuts but it's true.
Until then, I had only had portions of my life to be going good. When I was in school and working, I dated but didn't really go on many second dates because I couldn't find anyone I wanted to see more than once. And then, I met Jimmy and all that changed.
I figured my career would take care itself and I needed to follow love to be happy so I left school and my career path to become his bride and the mother of his children.
While I was happy as a stay at home mom and housewife for several years, I was lonely and bored a lot of the time since toddlers don't really know how to hold up their end of the conversations.
That's when I decided to go back to school and go back to my career path. Once I was back in school, it was harder as a mother of two than before but I managed.
After school nobody was hiring, so I worked at a plant in Haleyville as a credit analyst. I loved the people aspect of working but hated my job, which was to collect money from apartment complexes and condominiums.
In 2006, I was let go because of a downsize on the corporate level. I was off six weeks before I made the initial phone call that landed me here.
Once I came to the paper, I realized the first step of my career path and my family life was going strong. All of that equaled true joy. I know it sounds really campy because I don't work for the New York Times and I don't like in Manhattan like I had dreamed.
But, I am doing something I love. I look forward to coming to work everyday and when I miss work, I call all my people to find out what I have missed. So even when I am not here, I am here.
Some of you may question my dedication to what I do, but it's really quite simple. Reporters don't go home at the end of the day and forget the outside world.
We go home and wonder when the next big story will break. In the world of newspaper, you live your job because it's a part of who you are instead of what you do.
Anyway, I don't really know what the future holds for me but I do know I'll stay in the news business or a similar industry.
I do have career goals and there are things I'd like to do before I retire. I wish I could say I'll stay here at the paper forever but no one has a crystal ball. There is one thing I can say for certain: Life will never be the same for me again.