three-course gourmet meal for us as we met. It was one of the most awesome meals I ever ate and as I heard no complaints from the other partners, I think they were in agreement.

We hadn’t physically met for two years. And some of the partners rarely leave their homes. And so it was the first chance to be together in a long time.

We usually open up the meetings with each partner sharing what has been going on in their lives since the last time we met. And when it got to Gwen Jones’ turn, she said, “I am just grateful that we all are here together.”

And that just kept resonating within me ever since. It was such a simple, yet profound statement. It seems that all of us have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the advance of age. COVID-19 has kept us away from our loved ones and friends while time keeps on marching along.

It seems that every week, I learn about the passing of someone I know due to COVID-19 or old age brought on by health complications. Their death has an impact on us no matter how close we were to them. They were still a part of our lives. And we haven’t been able to come together to celebrate and honor their lives. It’s like they pass along silently in the night. And we can’t grieve for them — or for ourselves.

And as our community has opened up during the past year, I have begun to attend and take photos at community events. And I am a hugger, so I have given out about a thousand hugs. And as I hug someone, I might notice some strands of gray hair that hadn’t been there before. Or there may be some little wrinkles around the eyes. And there are too many of us who have put on weight because there was nothing better to do.

And so the pandemic has not only taken some of our loved ones away, but it has also frozen our lives in a kind of suspended animation where we wake up and have missed those two years, but our bodies certainly didn’t.

I am grateful that COVID-19 didn’t severely impact my immediate loved ones. One of my brothers caught COVID-19 as well as a few of my nieces and nephews. While they escaped the severest complications of COVID-19, some experienced the lingering effects. Still I am grateful they are alive.

It’s funny — but understandable — that I have received more thank you letters and even some monetary gifts on behalf of the paper during the last 1-2 years than I did in the entire previous 14 years. Especially during the beginning of the pandemic as everything shut down and people became relatively isolated and there was little that was normal in their lives, The Capital City Hues still came out every two weeks, at first limited to grocery stores and subscriptions due to the lockdown and then gradually to other places as businesses, government buildings and non-profits began to open up.

The Capital City Hues was a small thing, but we continued to be a normal, every-two-weeks slice of normalcy in people’s lives. They could still read about people doing great things in the community. Instead of community events, we featured the work of artists of color to allow them to “exhibit” their work and to bring some beauty and brightness into our readers’ lives.

And people appreciated that. And I must admit that I appreciated these positive comments coming my way when I was feeling relatively very isolated and depressed to be frank. The readers needed the paper and equally, the paper needed the readers.

And quite frankly, the paper needed its advertisers as well. All during the pandemic recession, most of our advertisers hung in there with us even though we were forced to reduce our circulation. And while we are experiencing higher costs, we are keeping our ad prices the same until we start exceeding our pre-COVID-19 circulation numbers, which we hope to do by the middle of the year. And then any increased exposure for our advertisers will be our thank you!

I am also thankful to our friends over at Capital Newspapers — who recently changed their name to Madison Media Partners — for doing such a quality job on our paper every issue. The printers are the ones who make our concept of a newspaper come to life and I am so grateful for the quality work that they do. And Eric and Diane have been great prepping my materials, making them into plates for the printing press. I’ve worked with Diane since 1999 when I became the editor of The Madison Times. She’s like a sister to me.

I am grateful for my family for always being there for me. I have always felt they have had my back. It’s a source of a sense of security.

And most importantly, I am grateful for my son Andrew. For the past two years, I’ve been transitioning my accounting business to him. It has given me a great sense of pride watching him grow and his expertise develop. And it is just such a cool feeling to be working with my son. Life is not always fair, but God is good!