Moving on without you
This is the last week for my friend Matt Newhouse to be gainfully employed. Matt is news editor of the Marion County Record. He's been there for 15 years, covering city, county, and school happenings. He has covered Marion's triumphs as well as those tough situations every town must face. He pounds out an editorial or two every week, stays late on Tuesdays to put the papers together, inserts grocery flyers, and takes tons of photographs. He does it all. Matt is kind of an institution in his own right.
And he is a truly nice guy. He deserves the good things that are happening in his life. Seems he fell in love, popped the question, she said "yes," and he is moving to Des Moines to get married. I am glad he and Cheryl found one another. I am glad he is so goofy-nutsy-disgustingly in love. But a part of me still would like to smack him for heading off to Iowa. Who's going to do "nice" now? Who's going to step up to the plate without whining and cover for the rest of us when we are sick or want a few days off? Who's going to smooth ruffled feathers and offer words of encouragement? Who's going to be "not huffy" when everyone else is "righteously huffy?" (Well, I know its not going to be me. I definitely don't qualify.) His will be a tough role to fill.
Matt also is a really funny guy. Most Tuesday afternoons he is the only comic relief on the place. When I first met him I thought he was as dry as a stick. I couldn't have been more wrong. He has a quick wit and a stash of one-liners for every occasion. He is "laugh out loud" funny! I will miss his clever comebacks as much as anything. I hope Cheryl knows she will forevermore be known as one half of the comedy team of Newhouse and Newhouse. She will either be as quick as he, or she will be the fall guy
And finally, Matt is a lucky guy. He is going on sabbatical following the wedding and honeymoon. He and Cheryl have agreed on this. Matt is not sure journalism is the field in which he wants to be when he grows up, so he plans to explore other options. He said he may do some freelance work, look at research projects, maybe delve into library or museum archives. So this is his last week to draw a paycheck from a newspaper. A sorry week indeed for journalism. Good luck my friend and thank you for everything.
— SUSAN MARSHALL
