Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/574309
Thereisasaying:"Bet- ter to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." It is argu- able that my time each Tues- day in the Daily News has been used wisely. One thing is for certain; I loved ev- ery minute of it, but after nearly ten years, the time has come to say goodbye to my column. The best thing about being a columnist is the freedom to choose what to write about and how to impact the readers. My biggest impact seems to have been the nearly one hundred You Matter columns that highlighted every—day people do- ing seemingly ordinary things in very extraor- dinary ways. I am very proud to have shared my heart, my struggles and my triumphs with you all. My career would not be what it is without having my column. My column taught me cour- age, developed my char- acter and my resiliency. My column taught me how to develop a mes- sage and how to accept the fact that no matter how hard we try, mis- takes happen in the form of grammar and judg- ment errors. My column taught me that you are never as good as your highest compliment or as horri- ble as your nastiest crit- icism; you are some- where in between. The highest achievement has been learning that given the platform and consis- tency, anyone can make an impact and dent the universe, if only slightly. That if you give anything enough attention, you will get better at it and you will master a task. I have been through so much in the last de- cade as have all of you. Together we have seen happiness, sadness and the occasional snarky sit- uation that has left us scratching our heads at the audacity of some peo- ple. Through it all, one thing has remained — my insistence that every- thing simply is, until we attach a meaning to it. Nothing is either good or bad until each person la- bels it so. As I move on to chase new dreams I want to leave you with my heart- felt thoughts that I have cultivated over a lifetime of change for the better. Learn to forgive. Stop keeping a tally in your head of everyone who has ever done you wrong. Travel. Untether yourself from your children. Stop wearing bling jeans and driving an SUV just because all the other moms do it. Real- ize that the world is big and benefits when you expand your wisdom and your reach. Get honest about why you aren't liv- ing the life you claim you want and do the things you need to do to get it. Eat more, buy Spanx. Realize that a percent- age of people will never like you, no matter what. Realize that some people will drain your bank ac- count, your wisdom and your essence and that it is your fault if they do. Cultivate friendships with wise people who think differently than you do. Rescue a puppy. Listen to that small voice in your spirit that has a dream that your head wants to over rule. Follow that dream and do the work. Life is short and honoring that dream is what makes the whole ride worth it. I pray you all have been blessed by the mus- ings of a now middle- aged empty-nester who started her life in the worst of ways but re- fused to give up and found that happiness doesn't come from hav- ing a perfect life void of pain. Happiness comes from turning those expe- riences into teaching mo- ments for one's self and for others. I hope blessings over- come you and I wish you all failures because they are the greatest gifts anyone could ever have. A fond farewell to all of you and I challenge one of you to take my place and shine your light in my absence. FaydraRector,MA is a mental health administrator, author, public speaker, educator and life coach who lives in Lincoln. She can be reached at lifecoach@shasta.com or view her blogs at faydraandcompany. blogspot.com/ and allaboutdivorce.blogspot. com/. FAYDRARECTOR Columnistbidsafondfarewell Faydra Rector The Tehama County Sheriff's Office was given a gift card for $25 on Sept. 11 with a nice thank you from the Red Bluff FoodMaxx store. Included was a card thanking the department for its service. It read: "Through tragic events we have found a day to cele- brate and honor our first responders. We appreci- ate the commitment to the safety and protection you provide for us here in Red Bluff and all of Tehama County." The card was presented by store manager Tim Sla- ton to deputies Shelley Mc- Cullough and Brian Law- ley. The Tehama County Sheriff's Office will use the gift card to provide water for staff members as they work major emergency events, such as the floods of the past winter. Grocerystorethanks county Sheriff's Office LAW ENFORCEMENT Ernest Muller, a well known resident of the Los Molinos Colony, has just received a letter and pho- tographs from his sister in Germany showing his nephew, a member of the German army, was deco- rated with the Iron Cross, which was presented him by the Kaiser. The nephew, who is lit- tle more than a boy, won the coveted medal by disguising himself as a woman, penetrating the Russian lines about dark one evening, discovering their plans, their means of fortification, and weak points in their defense, and then returning to his army under cover of dark- ness. The information he furnished his officers re- sulted in the capture of a detachment of 25,000 Rus- sians, who were surprised by a midnight attack, made the same evening af- ter he returned from the Russian lines. The young man speaks Russian and Polish fluently as he does his native tongue, which fact enabled him to suc- cessfully pass the ene- my's lines. The incident occurred a few days previ- ous to the capture of War- saw, the Polish capital, by the Germans. While very proud of the prowess of his younger rel- ative Muller is filled with grief as the result of other news contained in the let- ter. He had two brothers and four nephews, sons of his sister, on the Ger- man battle front, and the message contained the sad news of the death of one brother and three neph- ews all of whom were killed in battle. When asked if he did not expect to go back and fight for Germany, Muller answered in a de- cided negative. The letter just received from his sis- ter expressed the heartfelt thanks that he was safe in America, and not also on the firing line, constantly in peril of sharing the fate of his brother. — Sept. 22, 1915 100 YEARS AGO... Loses brother in World War II COURTESYPHOTO Pictured are FoodMaxx store manager Tim Slaton and Tehama County Sheriff's deputies Shelley McCullough and Brian Lawley. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thankyou! 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