On April 6, 1987, I walked into the Times-Union for my first day on the job. I was a very scared young lady. If I remember correctly, I was even relatively quiet and shy during my early days here. Nobody who works with me now would ever believe it.

In the 16-plus years of reporting since I graduated college, I believe I have developed a confidence that surprises a lot of people - sometimes even myself. Like I said, I used to be quiet and shy. But "used to be" doesn't count anymore.

The Times-Union provided an opportunity for me to exercise my new self that I discovered in college in Louisiana - a long way from my hometown of Hammond, where my introverted self grew up. I wrote for my college newspaper and gained experience during an internship in my senior year, but it was at the Times-Union that I fell into a comfortable niche with myself and I learned how to talk to people.

I have worn a variety of hats at the old T-U. I have written obituaries and birth announcements. Stories of tragedy and triumph. I have covered festivals and beauty pageants and, begrudgingly, stories about politics (my least favorite topic of coverage).

Most of my time, though, has been spent on the police, fire and courts beats, where I have made some very good friends among the departments and a few enemies among the subjects of my stories. I learned early on that an unlisted home telephone number was a good thing.

And, although Warsaw has been a wonderful place to live and work, I never planned to stay here as long as I have. I ended up here because my parents retired here while I was away at school and it was just a stopover between college and the rest of my life. I married a Warsawan, had a daughter, got divorced and kept on going. I thought about moving away and getting a fresh start, but I stayed for another seven years.

But now it's time to get on with the rest of my life. I recently got an offer I couldn't refuse and I hope to find happily-ever-after in Minneapolis, Minn. I leave here unemployed, but richer in my everyday life.

On May 29, I married a man with whom I graduated high school in Hammond and we became reacquainted at our 20-year reunion in 2001. While we knew who each other was and recognized each other at the two-day reunion festivities, we didn't run with the same crowds 20 years ago and hadn't even wondered what the other was doing all these years later.

However, we learned shortly after being reunited that we had something in common - we both thought I was delightful! Seriously, though, there was a connection between us that we both realized during the reunion. But he was in the middle of a divorce that was ending a 10-year marriage and I had a boyfriend. Neither of us thought the other had realized the same feelings. About six months after the reunion, he contacted me via e-mail thanks to the classmates.com Web site. We exchanged numerous lengthy, soul-searching, meaningful messages. Then we exchanged telephone numbers (a negative to the unlisted telephone number is people I want to hear from can't find me). The telephone wires began burning brightly and I looked forward to hearing him laugh at my stupid and silly jokes and stories about my eccentricities. He was - and is - a good listener, offering advice when he felt it was needed and butting out when I just needed a sounding board for my frustrations.

After our first date, strategically planned for a weekend in the Hammond area since he was flying in from Minneapolis and we both still have family in the area, we knew that we wanted to be together. Not just for the weekend, but forever. Not quite seven months later, we were married in Warsaw's Central Park on a chilly but sunny Thursday evening. It was a small ceremony officiated by Judge Duane Huffer and attended by about a dozen people who love us.

At the same time that I'm being brought into a new circle of love, I am leaving behind a slew of people who mean very much to me. Most of my family is scattered about (my parents have re-retired to Florida), but I have a large concentration of friends in Kosciusko County. I have tried to touch base with the many people who have touched my life and meant something to me, but saying goodbye is difficult. I want and need people whom I care about to know that I care, but I have always fought the tears that I consider a sign of weakness, and some of the face-to-face departures could cause a dam to break. In fact, I'm glad I chose to write this piece at home because nobody can see my keyboard getting splashed.

Hopefully, the friendships I have made can span the miles. I'm hoping that the Mall of America will pique the interest of some - it's 15 minutes from my new home. I'm also hoping that anyone I may have missed saying goodbye to will jot down my e-mail address - [email protected] - and drop me a line from time to time.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to life in the big city again. Small towns provide peace of mind and other positive aspects in life, but big cities have that pull that brings excitement and diversity. I hope to secure employment at a newspaper in the Twin Cities ASAP to continue doing a job that I love. But if my life veers in a different direction, I'll follow a new path. I look at this change as a bit of an adventure ... the ending to my story has yet to be written. [[In-content Ad]]