A regret of the job

This week, I've been dealing with one of the major regrets of my job – meeting wonderful people when it's too late. Friday, I sat in a courtroom and heard from family and friends about what a wonderful kid Ricky Bird was. His life was cut tragically short by a drunk driver in June. And, today, I'll attend the funeral of Jennifer Kois and learn more about the special person she was. Jennifer, a BHS grad, and her boyfriend were killed last week near Grand Junction (pardon me while I leave some of my unbias at the door) by a man who had no business behind the wheel of a vehicle and should have already been rotting in a prison cell (thank you). Wonderful people that, until their deaths, never graced the pages of our newspaper. I also handle the obits for our papers so, many weeks, I get a double dose of guilt. Reading about people who lived amazing, full lives that we never heard about either. I know we can't get to everybody but I can't help but feel as a community paper, we should be getting to a few more. We shouldn't only have to hear about good people when bad things happens to them. Oh, and on that funeral note, if you think it's morbid to treat a service as a media event, well, I tend to feel the same. But, lately, I've started to find the middle ground. It's important to share the stories of these people's lives. It's the least we can do. So, my offer to you, is send us the unique stories of the great people you know. Maybe we can start getting to a few more.