"...and now for a final word from our sponsor..." — Charles Gussman

This will be my last blog post about all things Midland, which is a little weird. I figured it fitting should be about the last project I did there. This is Donna Jackson. A single grandmother raising two kids, her house caught fire in November 2013. I found out about her story while on a separate daily assignment and decided to keep tabs on her while she moved from temporary housing and eventually back into her rebuilt home. Read the story here.

One of my favorite moments came around Christmas 2013. I dropped by as Donna was putting together a Christmas tree someone had bought for her. As we talked and I made some pictures, Donna mentioned offhand that she usually listens to Christmas music while setting up the tree, but had no way of doing so now. I quickly took out my phone and pulled up the Pandora app, searched for "Christmas Radio" and set it on a table near her. It took her a second to realize, and even though in my mind it was a small gesture, she was incredibly grateful. Just another reason that telling stories is pretty incredible.

A few months after the story published, I went to church with Neil and found out that Donna attends there now, along with her granddaughter Elizabeth. We got to service late, and worship had already started, but it was still awesome when Elizabeth came running around the rows of chairs and gave me a big hug and handed me a picture she drew for me.

So once again, to Midland, to Nick and Neil. To Ryan and Rodney. To Thomas, Nathan, John, Kevin, Brett, Channing, Kevin and Justin. To Brittney!! BEST OF LUCK! (And also to everyone else who I'm forgetting.) Thanks for creating and allowing me to contribute to an amazing tradition and telling meaningful community stories on the daily.