As I was submitting my column for this month, I was informed that it will no longer appear in the Markeplace publication. I was told that my column would now be appearing in the Petoskey News Review on the first Thursday of the month. While this news was met with some excitement on my part, (am I now entering the “big leagues?”), I realized that suddenly, a large majority of my readership will no longer have free access to my column in print form. I felt that I owed it to you to personally send a farewell message and let you know how much I have enjoyed writing for this particular paper for all these years. Some of you have been with me from the beginning and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your loyalty, comments, letters, and even chapstick! When I first started writing for what was at that time called, “Saturday,” it was completely by accident. My friend, Renee’ Tanner had mentioned that the News Review was always looking for “stringers.” “What’s a stringer?” was my questions, and after my first submission, The Flip Side, Life After 40 was born. At that time, it was 2010. My sons were middle and high school aged. You were with me through sports, drivers training, a variety of crafts, vacations and stay-cations, and surviving a bee in the car. You learned about my love of shoes and my addiction to chapstick. You were there for me during the saddest year of my life when I lost my brother and mother-in-law, and you were there when the sadness lifted. You have met me in the grocery store checkout lane, in Dunham’s and even up at Johnson Lake in the U.P. Every chance meeting, whether you know it or not, came at a time when I almost quit writing because I just didn’t have anymore ideas. But yet, your one kind comment of, “I love your column!” inspired me to keep on going. Although this is not “goodbye,” I feel like some of you won’t be able to read my writing without some extra effort. I will still be published in the PNR and online. Because my mom insists that I keep my blog current, you can still find me there, although it doesn’t stay updated as regularly as it should be. Every writer writes for an audience, whether it is personal or public. I want to thank you so much for your loyalty and encouragement over the years, and if you continue to follow me, I’ll catch you on the flipside. Notice: This is by no means my final blog post. This is just the one I wrote to say "goodbye" to my readers as my column transitions from one publication to another. I thought I should share because my mom likes to read every one of my posts and will wonder why I haven't posted anything this month. I hope you liked it too. -Dawn