One of my newest duties for the newspaper is typesetting the &uot;Our History&uot; section for each Wednesday’s edition of Lifestyles. I keep the bound volume of Greenville Advocates dating back to 1978 at home. It’s perfect for providing those fascinating little pieces of local history…my history, and yours.

It’s funny to look back 25 years. I note the flare leg jeans and chunky-heeled boots of yesteryear bear a striking resemblance to what’s in the local department stores today. (Everything old is new again…)

Prices seem amazingly cheap; it’s disheartening to note how my income hasn’t quite kept up with it after all those years.

Milestones were honored then, as now—birthdays, anniversaries, retirements; those being welcomed into this world, and those to whom we bid a solemn goodbye. With a twinge of sadness, I see the faces and names of those I once knew, respected and loved, who are no longer with us.

And I smile, getting a definite kick out of noting how many of us have changed. We’ve got gray hair, less hair…no hair. We’re often heavier or at least more ‘gravitationally challenged’ these days. Still, I think we’re looking pretty good—aging like fine wine!

We don’t run the &uot;pretty girl&uot; pictures in the pages of the paper anymore. (I suppose that’s no longer considered politically correct.)

There are a lot of ladies out there who, like myself, once held that honor. Some of my fellow ‘girls’ are probably as flabbergasted as I over ever having posed for print and posterity in a pair of brief shorts (or even a swimsuit). I still shake my head at the thought of how worried I was about looking fat in that cotton field yeah, those many, many pounds ago.

Somethings we still run are the ‘giant veggie’ and ‘big fish’ snaps. It’s something you just don’t see in those big city editions. To me, those oversized turnips and bodacious bass are part and parcel of the charm of a small community newspaper like ours.

This week is National Newspaper Week and I have to say I am proud to be a part of a profession that charts your history, our history, for posterity.

I must say one other thing.

Despite our best efforts, yes, we newspaper folks sometimes make mistakes, overlook errors or otherwise &uot;goof up.&uot; None of this makes us stupid, ill educated or unconcerned—just human.

We are dedicated to our work, and we genuinely care about this community (and the English language, I am compelled to add). I also should point out we have to follow AP style book guidelines; that may mean things are not always printed as submitted to us.

We’ll keep on working, very hard.