Inside the mind of…. (scary place)

A few details about me. I am the newsroom assistant at Today’s News-Herald in Lake Havasu City. I edit and type obituaries, letters to the editors and news briefs. I also do the Orchids and Onions column. I keep up with the Daily Planner and Let’s go Guide. I do just about anything the editors, reporters and page layout people need me to. I’ve been with the paper for 18 months as of Dec. 2008. I like it. There is just enough monotony to appease the routine lover in me with a daily dose of variety that keeps the more adventurous side of me entertained.

There are things I don’t really like and parts of the job I have had to grow accustomed to. Not having experienced much loss to death in my personal life the obituaries are probably the hardest part of my job. When a person much longer in years passes away it isn’t so hard to write the story of their life and loves. However, when a young person dies it is a much harder task. Many I’ve written over the last year and a half have moved me to tears. Even harder than writing or editing the obituary is talking with the family of the deceased. The first few times it really shook me up. After one of these first experiences Pam, the lifestyles editor, helped me to see that I could be a blessing to the loved ones left to tend to the matters of death and I have since striven to do just that. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction to know that I have made the day of someone in mourning easier and given them one less thing to be worried about and that I did it with compassion and caring. I hope that the desire to handle these situations in that way does not change over the duration of my time here.

It occours to me daily in the course of editing letters and putting together the Orchids and Onions that people are simply the MOST interesting of creatures.

In my time away from the paper I am married mother of five boys. We are a mixed family. The oldest two sons are from my first marriage, the middle child is from my husband’s previous relationship and our two babies are ours together. We have been married 7 years and moved to Lake Havasu City 6 years ago from Las Vegas (which we both hated) Our boys range in age from 3-14 years of age. The older three spend their weeks in Las Vegas with our exes and come here on the weekends.

My husband, Don, and I belong to the family at Living Word Family Church and have since the day we first walked in and were wrapped in the loving arms of the people there in December of 03.

In my spare time, I love playing with my kids, messing around on my computer, reading murder – mystery – psycho thrillers, designing web sites, playing cards and bbqing with friends. My life is pretty much an open book. I hope you enjoy reading.