Parting is such sweet sorrow. Saying goodbye just royally sucks.
It’s with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to all of you, as I am moving on from Rocky View Publishing.
‘Where are you going?’ has become the natural question that has followed every time I’ve told someone that I’m leaving.
Confession time: I don’t have a concrete answer to that question yet. I’m still working that part out and exploring my options, some of which are incredibly exciting.
The only thing I know for sure right now is that I’ll be sticking around Airdrie for the time being.
I am the type of person that likes to have a plan, so not yet knowing where I’m going or what I’m going to be doing is slightly nerve-wracking and liberating at the same time. It’s helping me slow down, evaluate exactly what direction I want to go in and stop and smell the roses along the way.
For the past two years, I’ve been putting the sports of Rocky View into words, but over the past few days, I’ve been finding it hard to put into words what my time in Rocky View has meant to me. It has been my dream to be a sports reporter since I was a teenager, but I didn’t expect to get the opportunity to do so exclusively this early in my career. It’s an opportunity I’m extremely grateful for.
When I came to Rocky View Publishing, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do with my journalism career.
Two years later, the door that was opened to me as an intern has turned into a wall that’s been blown apart. The yellow brick road I was starting down now looks more like a demented fork.
Working here has shown me just how many options I have and has sent me down a pretty awesome and exciting path. It gave me opportunities to see and cover things I didn’t think possible, from the World Junior development camp to the Calgary Stampede rodeo finals and everything in between.
The days I spent standing in the snow and the cold on the sidelines of a Saturday morning football game never felt like work. When it did, a hot chocolate and Baileys nightcap brought me back to my senses. Before I came to the county, I’d never watched a lacrosse game nor had I ever been to a rodeo. I now own two pairs of cowboy boots, a cowboy hat and three plaid shirts. I blame Alberta.
My favourite days, were the ones I spent at the rink. Rocky View has been a treasure trove for a hockey fan like me.
I’m going to miss those Saturday mornings on the gridiron and the Saturday nights rinkside. I’m going to miss doing the cross-county drive (Airdrie to Chestermere to Cochrane and back) wrapped in the view of the Rockies. Word to the wise: never, ever drink water on that drive.
I’m going to miss wandering through the bowels of the Saddledome and interviewing some of Rocky View’s best junior hockey players. A special thanks goes out to those guys, Ty Rattie, Coda Gordon, Jason Swyripa, Spenser Jensen, et. al. I can’t wait to see where your careers take you and be able to one day say ‘I interviewed him.’
Most of all, I’m going to miss my colleagues. There are too many of them to name, but they’ve all passed on some sliver of wisdom that I’m going to take with me. I’m going to miss baking for them and the inside jokes and the laughs and Disney Fridays.
I’m going to miss it all and my time here is always going to hold a special place in my heart and the last time I tried to say goodbye, I ended up back here four months later.
So, I guess after all that, this isn’t really goodbye, Rocky View. It’s more like ‘see you soon’ because I have a sneaking suspicion that my path will bring me back here one day. And just as it does now, I have no doubt it’ll feel like coming home.
