WHEN YOU are in the world of news writing for more than 28 years, you meet a lot of people.

As I look back over my career with The Times Leader, I have been blessed in many ways. Many people have met have enriched my life, made me a better person and some of them have become friends.

Retirement for me has finally arrived. Now is the time for me to write about the gift of gratitude. I need to say “thanks” to many people. Really, I don’t know where to begin and I am almost hesitant to name names for fear that I will certainly miss someone. However, I will do my best, and if I do miss someone, please know that it is not intentional.

Many people have touched my life and have inspired me with their notes, calls and letters. A dear friend told me one time that he would rather have one bouquet of flowers when he is alive than a truck load after he is gone. And so, to each of you, I send this bouquet of gratitude with a sincere feeling of love.

My family has always been the most important and influential part of my life. How grateful I am that I always thanked my mom, dad and brothers and sisters for the sacrifices they made for me and for instilling in me a deep love of God, family and country. My wife, Rose Mary, and our two children, Susan and Ed, have looked out for me every day. They are an inspiration, and I will always cherish their love and concern. To the pastors and Sisters of Charity of St. Anthony in Bridgeport and to the Brothers at Wheeling Central, a simple thank you seems so inadequate.

To the wonderful people of Boydsville, thanks for many happy memories. You are special.

No words can adequately express thanks to my friend the late Donald R. Myers for his friendship and the many stories he gave me while he served as the director of the Belmont County Department of Development. To his wife, Linda, and son, Eric, and daughter, Kelly, for always welcoming me into their home and hearts, I say a fervent and heartfelt thanks.

To my wife Rose Mary and dear friend Betty Pokas, thanks for always approving my columns before they were published. Their advice and help are appreciated more than words can say.

How can I ever thank Pamela R. McCort for her many beautiful notes and cards? And thanks to her and her husband, former sheriff Tom McCort, for allowing me to call their home every day for many years at 7 a.m.

To my friends Engineer Fred Bennett and the late auditor Joe Pappano for always being there when I needed help about county finances and roads or bridges, I say thank you. And a big thanks to Dave Grum, the retired superintendent of the Belmont County Sanitary Sewer District, for the time when we worked together during a drought that hit the county many years ago. Thank you for all the help I got from former Belmont County commissioners Jack Malik, Bob Olexo, Mel Sargus, Jim Hepe, Mike Bianconi, Anita Wiley and Bunchy Pollock and their clerks.

To my friends Recorder Stanley Simoncic, Clerk Randy Marple and Treasurer Joe Gaudio, I say a fervent thanks and extend that to their successors and staffs as well.

I would be remiss if I did not thank former judges Charles Knapp, Harold Thomas and Jennifer Sargus and my dear friends Judges John M. Solovan II, Frank Fregiato, Mark Costine and J. Kenneth Henry, Mary C. Swoboda and Connie Pollock. They always welcomed me into their chambers just to say hello.

A big thank-you is owed to Dick Quinlin for naming me the Emergency Management Agency’s public information officer. The same is due to the Belmont County Bar Association for presenting me the Liberty Bell Award, and to those agencies that gave me honors and recognition for my writings on their behalf. Thanks, too, to all those wonderful people affiliated with the Belmont County Department of Disabilities for allowing me to be a member and to serve as the board president for several years.

I thank former St. Clairsville police chief Martin Kendzora and the officers and dispatchers of the department for their trust and help. To former sheriff Fred Thompson and current Sheriff Dave Lucas and to all the deputies and dispatchers and jail personnel, thanks from the bottom of my heart. And a big thanks goes to the troopers and dispatchers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. You all made my job a lot easier with your help and cooperation.

A big thanks to Nancy Gillogly, Nancy Mumley and Lova Ebbert for always taking time to write and inspire me with their comments, and the same for the many people who stopped me on the street and in stores and thanked me for touching their lives. Thanks, too, to my friends at the St. Clairsville Public Library and the Newellstown Diner. And a very special thanks to attorney Dave Barnes for his many kindnesses.

To those agencies that I covered years ago – the St. Clairsville Noon Rotary Club, Jerry Narcisi and the Belmont-Harrison Joint Vocational School District, the Belmont County Health Department, Belmont College, the Sargus Juvenile Center, Community Action Commission and Fred Diab and the Fair Housing Commission – thank you. To the Committee on Aging and the Mental Health & Recovery Board, the Ohio State University Extension Service and the Belmont Soil and Water Conservation District. thanks to all of you.

To the Belmont-Monroe Fraternal Order of Police, thank you for the award and thanks for the help I received from the Belmont County Prosecutor’s Office and from the staff.

To The Times Leader family, present and past, I love all of you. And to those who have passed away, I offer a prayerful thanks. To Alex Marshall and Bill McNell for hiring me, even though I had little or no journalistic experience. To Bubba Kapral, Lori Figurski, Stan Pawloski, Bob Hecker, Greg Fehr, Kathy Showalter, Marion Ruminsky, Eric Ayres, Debbie Curnes, Sandy Wallace, Shaunna Dunder-Hershberger, Emily Dominici, Paula Ginther, Joyce Merkel and Kelly Klubert, a special thanks for all your help. Thanks also to those who worked in the accounting office and in advertising and circulation. And I say a fervent thanks to all those in the sports department and for all those “friendly” arguments about the Yankees and Notre Dame.

I know that I missed some people, but all of you have my eternal gratitude. I ask that you say a prayer for me sometime. I say with all honesty, I always tried to do my best. Thanks to everyone for making it a joy for me to work at The Times Leader. God bless you.