This is me. For the past decade I have worked in local television news. Most recently I was an on-air personality. Sounds pretty fancy, huh? It’s not. I was a reporter. I covered every story you can imagine regardless of the weather conditions. I often rode in filthy trucks with toxic fumes billowing in the air.

Before you start booing and hissing please listen. The media isn’t as bad as many perceive. In fact, sometimes I cared too much. I never wanted to knock on someone’s door after they suffered an unimaginable loss. I had to. No matter how quickly I moved, the sidewalk seemed to go on for miles. Everything around me was a blur, my heart raced and I always had a pit in my stomach. I have cried during and after interviews. They weren’t crocodile tears. To this day a song, smell, street corner, etc. can trigger a memory of someone I only knew from a photograph.

Reporting is a young person’s career. Once you have lived holding the microphone becomes more and more difficult. I now look at the grieving mother and think about how her deceased teenage daughter was once a bubbly toddler like mine. She rocked her to sleep, taught her to ride a bike and together they shopped for a prom dress. These stories haunt me.

Don’t get me wrong, there were countless assignments that I found to be extremely rewarding and even fun. Our reports have helped those who couldn’t help themselves and did right injustices. Over the years, I have met thousands of amazing people doing incredible things in my community. I found my best friends in a newsroom. We have shared many laughs in a newsroom. Truth is, the folks behind your nightly broadcast are hilarious! Of course, myself included. It may surprise some people to know that I breathe sarcasm.

I am grateful for the opportunity to work in news. I have learned so many valuable lessons. The most important being life is a gift. Tomorrow isn’t promised. So, today I am hanging up this hat and focusing on my family. I will write, but as a Mommy Blogger. I will share my opinion on this website which is often forbidden in news. We will laugh together and yes I will still tell stories. Lots of stories. My stories. I hope you tune in.

www.cynicalmother.com