I've moved on!

The following is what I wrote for my farewell column. After a major move of God, I moved on from The Sandy Post to become Communications Director at East Hill Church.

It's a bit surreal; all you have to do is browse what I've written on this blog to find that my relationship with The Post was that of a battered spouse; abuse, but there's still some sort of twisted, codependent love at the bottom of it all holding it all together.

Well, that's over now, and a new chapter begins. Hopefully this means I'll be able to update this more. But the fact that I've already been at the new job since Oct. 3 doesn't show much promise yet!

Anyway, here's what I wrote to say goodbye:

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In the Broadway musical version of “Jekyll & Hyde,” Dr. Henry Jekyll espouses a phrase we’ve probably all heard before, and all accept: “The only thing constant in life is change.”

And boy, is that true for me. In the past year, I’ve had my first child – a beautiful boy named London, moved the entire Sandy Post office to a quaint little house, seen an almost complete turnover in my staff and, as of Father’s Day, learned that I will be the father of another baby.

A pregnancy test I bought as a joke for my wife led to the happiest news of 2008, that we would be having a daughter. My wife, Savannah, is about halfway through the pregnancy already, and we are just beaming at the thought of little Liberty Haven Hathcock coming into the world.

It’s going to be exciting and interesting to see the differences between these babies, who only will be 15 months apart. Since I already have my mini-me, I’m really hoping to see some gorgeous blue eyes and lighter brown hair on this one, but then again, I won’t be disappointed if Liberty ends up looking like her old man.

We picked her name because it means “freedom,” and her middle name means “place of rest.” So many young ladies these days are slaves to our celebutante, popularity-driven culture, trying to fit in and craving to be noticed. Right from the beginning, we want our daughter to know she is free to be the person God made her to be, and can “rest” in that.

Change begets change it seems, and my “insta-family” is among the reasons why that after Friday, Sept. 26, I will leave my beloved position as Editor/General Manager of The Post to become Communications Director at East Hill Church in Gresham.

For the past three-and-a-half years, The Sandy Post has been another baby of mine, in a way. It’s been more than just a job that allows me to make ends meet; it’s been a lifestyle.

I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do in the time I’ve been here. We’ve consistently led Community Newspapers by increasing our circulation in an age that sees newspapers shrinking, not growing. We’ve focused on Sandy, Boring and the mountain villages like never before, and booted out the Gresham news and other stuff that doesn’t apply to us. We’ve made the design more fresh, and produced the kinds of stories that were easy to read, yet full of information.

I’ve had a great team that has never taken itself too seriously, but always took doing the right thing the right way seriously – even if that means rocking out to Led Zeppelin while doing it. Besides my current team, names that come to mind from the past include Claudia Stewart, Cara Buck, Eric Hendricksen, Ryan McVicker, Matthew Hunt, Bill Wilson and Michael Cade.

Yes, our little paper has come a long way, and it is my sincere hope that under your new Editor/General Manager Steve Brown – who will introduce himself in the coming weeks – The Post will continue to flourish. I have a hunch it will be just fine.

The good times have been many. Some of my favorite include rapping with Reporter Garth Guibord in the 2007 Sandy Mountain Festival Parade (and really, any of the parades in which I have participated); writing an editorial that led to the City Council creating a holiday of sorts, George Bruns Day (I’m still waiting for some official celebrations); winning the Society of Professional Journalists’ Rookie of the Year award as all my coworkers held paper cutouts of my goofy head; emceeing both the Chamber Awards Banquet and the Walk For Literacy; and getting SAM bus driver Myrna Gonzales’ name wrong in the paper – twice.

I can’t tell you how I’ve been touched by people’s kind words over the past few weeks. It makes it hard for a guy to leave.

But really, this isn’t goodbye. I intend to keep my journalistic skills sharp by freelancing for The Post and Community Newspapers, and I hope to keep living here in Sandy. I also plan to stay involved in the community – so, for better or worse, you haven’t seen the last of me.

And now, in the tradition of graduating seniors and those dearly departed, I leave my last will and testament for The Post:

To Reporter Garth Guibord I leave my “Tales of Abbygail” posters, my Tollgate Mondays, my Thursday cookies at Subway, the phrases “on tap” and “new digs,” and my superior headline-writing talent. He can have my laptop, too, I guess.

To Sports Editor Darrell Jackson I leave any stories I could have written about Roslyn Lake or Abbygail, any of the baby stuff we left at the office and my ability to generate some heated online comments – oh wait, you already have that.

To Circulation Manager Justin Murphy I leave my Little Red Riding Hood costume. To advertising rep Jenn Groza I leave my desk, since you only have four desks now.

To incoming Editor Steve Brown I leave the 2 a.m. deadline nights (and the delightful smell of Joe’s Donuts in the nighttime air), my Little Red Riding Hood costume, coupons to Smoky Hearth, my beloved “executive” chair, a Costco box of ibuprofen and the amazing responsibility of telling these great people’s stories.

Thank you, Sandy, for allowing me to be a part of your lives. This isn’t goodbye; it’s just see ya around.