Nick Sestanovich is leaving the Benicia Herald as editor.  He has done an admirable job in a career that is fading from view: print news. Why buy a newspaper when you can have CNN on all day or Fox News and get your “fake news” quota for the day? I feel for Nick’s plight along with all those who majored in journalism. Some probably had visions of being sent to an exotic outpost as the only reporter of an insurrection or perhaps being an investigative journalist at the level of Watergate and the Washington Post. Those positions are still possible, but how does one build up their vita if there are no entry level jobs-namely even local papers are cutting back because no one buys a subscription anymore?
The Benicia Herald has depended on contributors to round out their offerings.  Now I only get my crossword puzzle on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and the answers are for Thursday and Saturday. That’s not likely to keep me buying the paper.  Then there are the contributors. I have been one for over 10 years.  Every other week for a decade. I have loved the opportunity. Thank you, Toni Owens.
I have pondered the satisfaction that comes from having one’s name in print and knowing your missives are headed for the eyes of someone you have never met. I have sometimes dropped in someone else’s work in my column to share the wealth of this experience.
Sometimes there is a collection published of people’s writings. Emma Bombeck comes to mind as a delightful compilation of funny, homey, everyday musings.  I sometimes try to write like Emma- local and lighthearted.  Then there was Armistead Maupin in “Tales of the City”—an insiders look at gays in San Francisco- very enlightening and revealing.  I sometimes try to write like Armistead- open and personal.  Recently, I read Charles Krauthammer’s “Things That Matter.”  Charles– who died in June– was a conservative, moderate Republican.  He won the Pulitzer as a journalist for the Washington Post.  He, like I, could write about whatever he wanted.  He wrote from his heart (about dogs, personal relationships), his passions (supporting Israel, taking a stand against radical Islam, chess), annoyances (the use of the F word, airport searches).  He wrote about his stands in the world with aplomb.
What I know is that we all have stories, columns in us.  They are waiting to be written. So I say, it is time to write that memoir. I have saved my 240 columns for my children and grandchildren so that they can know me.  Now it is time for you to write.  Steve Gibbs just wrote in his column that his written words are fleeting and he has taken to making furniture because they will last beyond him.  Emma’s, Armistead’s and Charles’ words were timely and made a difference in people’s lives to make them laugh, or understand, or ponder important issues.  They are as Steve indicated fleeting (unless someone compiles them in a book).  But in that moment over a cup of coffee perhaps you started someone’s day off feeling the presence of another mind.
We don’t always have the good fortune to have someone at that breakfast table to share the early morning hours. It is for those that the letter, column, commentary using the written word can mean the most. I will never be the noteworthy columnist, but I have loved meeting with you over a cup of coffee. Perhaps with the next editor, that connection will continue. I certainly hope so.

Ellen Blaufarb is a marriage family therapist.

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