My last day on the job at KATU. How much you wanna bet, they send me to the mountain today? LOL. There’s a snow advisory in the Cascades and I’ll bet you loads of money, they’ll send me up to cover the snow!
Anna Song was researching me the other day in our archives and she says to me,

“You know something”

“What?” I ask.

“You’ve been to the mountains or the coast like…at least 150 times in six years!”

Really? Why does that not surprise me? I’m always the the one they send! 150 times? Thats a lot. Keep in mind, I’m only a reporter two days a week. 150? I think I’d better research that myself!

Anyway, today I will be very sad at 7 pm when I leave the KATU doors for the last time. I will miss the people. I will miss the fun. I will miss the behind-the-scenes crews who work so hard to make this thing called “news” work. I will miss meeting someone new every time I am in the field reporting the news. I’ve met politicians (yes they really are like that), movie stars (Drew Carey is hilarious. Peter Jennings was an amazing person), so many PIO’s (public information officers) I can’t even count. I’ve met children dying from horrible diseases with the courage and strength no adult could muster. I’ve met homeless people, ultra-rich people, stupid criminals and smart ones—even a man convicted of murdering his wife.

What have I done for a story? I’ve jumped into the freezing cold Clackamas River just to feel how cold it was myself. I’ve ridden in a glider. I’ve driven a car right into a lake (it was really a boat). I’ve flown in teeny weeny planes. I’ve eaten some pretty nasty food. I’ve cruised in jet 2 over a wild fire for 6 hours. I’ve walked up to the edge of a 300 feet landslide. I’ve driven a Ferrari at over 100 mph down interstate 84. I’ve put flowers on the Rose Parade floats. I’ve Para-sailed. I’ve explored the depths of an underground civil war bunker. I’ve stood on Ecola point with 80 miles per hour winds hitting me so hard my ears rang for days afterwards. I ice skated on Grant Park during the ice storm.

I’ve also had to cover airline disasters, murders, accidents and house fires. Families who have lost everything to war, famine, fire and deceit. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to knock on a door to ask a mother if she would talk about her dead child to me. How I did it, I do not know. I HATED it. She always hated me. I can still feel the glare of almost every mother I had to ask this of. It’s the most horrible feeling in the world. All I’ve ever wanted to do is hug them. To tell them I’m sorry, to comfort them and try to steal away their pain. This part of being a journalist I did not like. Sometimes I felt like a criminal myself.

Oh, but this career has taught me so much. I would not be who I am if it were not for all the amazing experiences I have had–both good and bad. It has proved to me that people no matter who they are—are just that—people. We all have the same insecurities, the same hopes, the same fears, the same goals. We all just want to be happy and fulfilled. I’ve learned that persistence pays off. If you keep swinging that baseball bat, you WILL hit one out of the park. It’s physics. It HAS to happen. Ive learned that anyone CAN do anything. It’s our choice to make our lives what we want to make of them. And everyone chooses their own path whether they realize it or not.

Life is not about what happens to you. It’s about how you react to it.

My last day at KATU today. My last story. My last time on the air. It’s also the first day of the rest of my life. How exciting!

Thanks for watching out there.

Until Next Time,

—J