A personal message

Thank you everybody for all the kind words and messages.

In case you didn't hear, after 31 years as a copy editor at The Indianapolis Star, the paper laid me off in a cost-cutting move. Though I've been anticipating this moment for the past two years, when it finally happened, I felt panic-stricken, even ashamed that it happened to me. Now, I feel relief that the ordeal is over.

I worry about the co-workers left behind, and especially some who got the ax after I left the building. While I was prepared, financially and emotionally to take the hit, I worry about my colleagues. I regret not being there when they received the terrible news. If you're of the praying persuasion, I urge you to think of them.

John Hawn