Kaye Sullivan
MEEKER | We’ve all enjoyed or survived Christmas in some 2020 adjusted format. Maybe like our household, you too, experienced highs and lows. We deeply rejoiced in a live Christmas Eve church service, personal visit with our oldest son, and joys of baking holiday treats.
Frustrating was the seemingly lost box of gifts to our grandkids/children in Oregon that I shipped in early December. I kept getting texts every day that it was “in transit.” Apparently, this box sat in a Denver USPS facility for weeks along with many others.
I don’t blame USPS who is understaffed, underfunded, hit with Covid infected employees, struggling with an unprecedented level of shipping, and criticized by about everyone. In my opinion, our Meeker postal workers are the kindest, caring, most hard-working postal employees I’ve ever seen.
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RBC | We’ve been through enough old Heralds to know this year was a real doozy, but for our annual year in review we flipped the script and asked our readers one good thing that happened to them during 2020. Here are the responses we received.
For years I have tried to find something good that happened each day even if it is something silly like finding my misplaced pen or watching a rabbit hopping over the snow. That habit kept me going during 2020. I found that 2020 helped me to slow down and appreciate all the things I have like family, friends and living in this beautiful part of our country. It gave me time to remember life is good despite its challenges. So, find at least one good thing that happens each day and watch your attitude and life improve.
Kaye Sullivan
MEEKER | To Niki Turner and all your hard-working staff, on behalf of all your readers, I say thank you and a very special Merry Christmas.
You faithfully churn out the news every week, get the advertising included, attend meetings for us, produce the fun pages, re-create Days Gone By news, write an editorial, edit submitted articles, and no matter what, get us our beloved newspaper. In a small, remote town like Meeker, the paper is THE news, and our household reads it every week.
Holidays do not exist in the world of journalism; it is 52 weeks a year work. The clock is always ticking. As soon as one issue goes to press, it’s time to focus on the next week. Deadlines are fixed times with no exceptions, not soft schedules. Once the copy and layout are off to be printed, there is no recall or do over.
Kaye Sullivan
MEEKER | What is a “trail angel” you may well ask? I first learned of this term when our oldest son hiked the 2,500 mile Appalachian Trail in 2009. As a mom who had never heard of the “AT” I was freaked out by our son (freshly minted college graduate) heading into the wilderness alone. I imagined him getting eaten by bears, breaking a leg, falling down a mountain side, and never returning.
Being a “thru hiker” means about six months of constant hiking from Maine to Georgia. On your back you carry your life food, tent, essential water, and little else. Jason didn’t even take his cell phone because there’s no place to recharge it and it weighed too much. That is a devoted hiker, calculating every ounce being carried and living on just the essentials.
Kaye Sullivan
MEEKER | Having battled COVID for a few weeks now, here’s a frank account of what it’s really like, from our experience. I know every patient is unique, but I think our situation is typical for mid-way between mild and profoundly serious infections.
For those of you who think it is like flu, NO. It is ten times worse, is life threatening, and lasts forever. As everyone should know by now, it can result in death and long-term health consequences.
When you get COVID tested, they ask a series of questions about your symptoms. Jay and I both responded yes to nearly the entire list.