The plan was simple: Find a house in western North Carolina, sell a house in eastern North Carolina, move during a pandemic, uproot our 16-year-old from his life and friends … and find a job.
I have a peculiar skillset that these days is actually quite marketable, but after 35 years in the newspaper business (this month is my 35th anniversary of when I got my first real newspaper job), I find myself stuck in my ways.
When we finally switched our permanent address from Craven County to Graham County in September, I told myself I would be happy with any job. Sixty-one years old, I am still too young to put out to pasture.
So the first and only place I applied was at The Graham Star. Six weeks later and once again I have a desk in a newsroom – my happy place.
I say stuck in my ways, but really, I have tried a lot of jobs over the years. I was a Marine, private investigator, chainsaw repairman, door-to-door salesman, sawmill worker, insurance adjuster and several other things, but this list is already getting boring. The only thing that I was really good at was being a storyteller (also known as reporter). I did that for the first seven years of my career, but family obligations took precedence and I got into management.
Now, late in my career, I find myself back where I started, which gives me a chance to do something I love while maybe being a little better at it than the last time I did it.
My adoptive community is Graham County and what a thrill that is. I was raised in a mountainous area, but was mainly a flatlander from my 19th through my 61st years. There is hardly a bend in the road or a roadside shack that doesn’t draw my curiosity.
I yearn to find out the details and tell their stories in words and images. I can’t think of a better way to spend the twilight years of my career.
But it’s not all about me. We moved here for my wife, Sarah, too. Sarah loves the tranquility and scenery of the mountains and is learning how to drive mountain roads. She was an educator until 2010, when she was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease.
Sarah is also a gifted painter, editor and writer (she has a personal blog and also writes for an international health website). Her blog, which she doesn’t update as often as she once did, is called Me and HD (meandhd.wordpress.com).
Between us, we have five sons, with the youngest, a 16-year-old we call Mark, living at home. His is a story all by itself, which he is more than capable of writing himself (he’s a better writer at 16 than I was at 30). The others live in the Raleigh area, except one who spends the majority of the year performing with a cruise ship orchestra.
I look forward to meeting all of you and sharing your stories with our readers in Graham County, and I thank Kevin Hensley for giving me this opportunity.
Randy Foster is the new staff writer for The Graham Star. He can be reached by phone, (828) 479-3383; email, news@grahamstar.com; and fax, (828) 479-1044.