BRAD MCEWEN: Time to say goodbye

The basic fact of the matter is I’m essentially a big softie.

I have no problem watching rom-coms with my wife; I dig love songs and albums by the Indigo Girls, and I have to turn the channel immediately whenever one of those horrifying ASPCA starving dog in a cage commercials comes on.

Sure I’ve been through some hard times — burying my dad at 27, coming precipitously close five years ago to losing my family, my life and my sanity — and I’ve persevered. But there’s just no way for me to even pretend that I’m some kind of tough guy.

Quite simply, I’m just kind of an emotional dude.

It’s with that in mind that I tell you that with a somewhat heavy heart I’m sitting down to write this column. The undying optimist in me certainly harbors a great sense of excitement for what’s to come, but there’s just no way I can write this without fighting back a tear or two.

You see, although no one has a crystal ball in which to see the future, there is a chance that this column might very well be the last thing I ever write for my hometown paper.

When I sign off my computer and descend the steps from The Albany Herald newsroom toward an uncertain future on Friday, I leave behind a wonderful place where I spent an incredible four years following my heart and doing what I love to do — telling stories.

It was with great consternation, and after much contemplation and prayer, that I took a leap of faith and decided to take Luke Flatt and Perry Revell up on their unexpected offer to welcome me to the incredible team that’s been assembled at AB&T.

Ultimately, it was the opportunity to work with a special group of people and to have a hand in creating something entirely new, and I think quite unique, while still telling the story of this community (more on that at a later time), that helped me make up my mind.

My choice to make a career change had nothing whatsoever to do with any dissatisfaction. I love The Albany Herald.

So while I’m overflowing with excitement and a fair bit of nervous anticipation about embarking on a new journey next week, I’m still touched by a certain sadness.

You see, it’s hard to say goodbye.

Leaving behind my talented co-workers, like Jennifer, Terry, Jon, Tim, Mary and Chauntel, is going to be tough. I got a small taste of that almost three weeks ago when I had to tell my friends Jim and Carlton that I was leaving the team. I know it’ll be bittersweet when my last Herald story is filed.

But there’s just no escaping a feeling of melancholy.

Of course, being the heart-on-my-sleeve guy that I am, I’m also filled with another emotion — a tremendous sense of gratitude. And I truly hope it’ll be my appreciation for all the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with and writing about, that will resonate with those who take the time to read this (for lack of a better term) farewell column.

I really want to use this opportunity to not only say goodbye to The Herald, but to say thank you. Thank you to my Herald teammates, to my mentors, Danny, Jim and Carlton — all of whom (especially Carlton, who first made journalism come alive for a high school sophomore nearly 25 years ago) — have encouraged me and helped develop my talent.

I want to also say thank you to folks like Winston and Lisa, and Mike and Christi up in Lee County, who always make time for me and go out of their way to get me the data I need to write an informed piece about my neighbors to the north.

I want to express my appreciation to people like Barbara, Mary, Donna, Rachelle and the crew at the chamber of commerce, and to Justin, Reedi and Suzanne at the EDC — all of whom helped me stay wired-in to what’s going on in the business community.

Thanks are in order for all my past and present CVB girls, who always put a smile on my face and made sure I got a good picture for the front page — Gabi, Teresa, Katie, Kristen, Holly, Jenny, and, most of all, my friend Rashelle, who, despite being exhausted and neck-deep in the hustle and bustle of doing any number of things, including running a marathon, still always has time to help me tell the right story.

The list of people who have made the last four years some of the best of my professional life is lengthy — folks like Bobby McKinney, who always makes a bee-line to me at civic functions and asks with genuine feeling how things are going, or men like Ed Rynders, who are keen on making sure that a young buck has some idea of what’s going on behind the scenes.

There are people like Dorothy Hubbard, always quick to ask about my mama while taking time to call me back to give me a quote I need, or Jon Howard, Chris Cohilas, Lamar Hudgins, Dennis Roland, Luke Singletary, Rick Muggridge, Judy Powell, Ewell Lyle and the other local leaders who understand that when I’m reporting on this community — the good, the bad and the ugly — I’m just doing my job.

Then there’s folks like Dan Gillan and his wife, Andrea, who once opened their hearts to me and shared their personal tragedy so a story I was writing would have more of a helping impact; and the Alston brothers, who took me on a heartwarming trip down memory lane as they told the story of five brothers who helped define the course of one of Albany’s most venerable businesses.

I want to thank people like Sandra Tillery, still shaken from the Jan. 22 tornado that ripped through her south Albany neighborhood, recounting how her family narrowly avoided being swept up in the twister, but really focusing on the acts of love and kindness shown by volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse.

I need to thank our public safety servants, who while putting their lives on the line each and every day to make this community safe, still have time to take my call, text or email — folks like Michael Persley, Ron Rowe, Kevin Sproul, Reggie Rachals, Eugene Anderson and Wesley Wells

Then there are the countless moms and dads who let me take pictures of their little ones so the readers of The Herald could see the true joy of bounding around a bouncy house or grooving to some tunes at the fairgrounds.

And I can’t forget to say thanks to my peeps on the local music scene either: James, Tyler, Bo, Justin, Taylor, Brandon, Tiffany, Faith, Ryan, Jon, Paul, Chad, Vernon, Jerome, Mark, Kristen, Matt, Chris, Jason, Michael, Nate, Alison and scores of others who let me backstage or welcomed me to band practice so I could show this community how much talent we’ve got right here in our own backyard.

There’s simply no way I could possibly name all of the wonderful people in this community who have opened themselves up to me and allowed me the opportunity to tell their story, to tell Southwest Georgia’s story, in the pages of The Albany Herald.

Of course, the biggest thanks of all should go to the loyal readers of The Herald who have welcomed me into their homes, their offices, and I hope sometimes their hearts each and every day as I try to entertain and inform them. It’s really been an honor.

The last four years of my life have truly been a blessing thanks in no small part to all my friends and neighbors, who together make me proud to call Albany home.

So, as I sign off on my final, at least for the foreseeable future, Albany Herald column (a nice long one for my buddy Jim), I just want to let you know that I won’t be gone for long and I’ll still have a hand in telling the fascinating story of this community. But until then, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.