For those who have been reading my new stories, editorials and opinion columns; I am forever grateful for your readership, and I hope you will continue to read the Telegram, Guide, Herald and Farmer. The staff at these newspapers work diligently, often with many tireless hours involved, to bring you up-to-the minute news about your community every day.

For me, it’s time to take a step back. While I don’t intend to simply walk away from journalism, I will be resigning as editor for the Torrington Telegram, Lingle Guide, Lusk Herald and Business Farmer. 

I have made a career change which I believe will help me to spend more time with my family and pursue more of the goals and objectives I wish to accomplish. 

I plan to check in every now and again with contributed articles and editorials, but I will no longer be writing the news full-time.

I want to leave a few thoughts with the readers of these publications.

The past couple of years have been incredibly rough on the United States and the world. We in Goshen County and Niobrara County have not been impervious to these tough times, either.

The world has dealt with wars, pandemics, injustice and so much more. Some days it seems there is no end in sight to the violence, the badgering and the hate.

Throughout this time, it has seemed as though too many people have forgotten what it means to be a part of a community; caring for one another and loving one another. 

The world and politics have driven a stake between people and continues to broaden the divide each and every day. Letting the world tear us apart like this is not the answer. It’s time we stand up and remember we are all one people. We exist for one another. Let’s get over that which keeps us apart and come together, united. 

We will always have disagreements, but we need to learn to meet in the middle. Bob Gorrell’s cartoon this week hits this idea spot-on. We have lost the middle ground. It’s no longer “we” it seems; it’s us and them, left and right, democrat and republican, ‘vaxxer’ and ‘anti-vaxxer.’

We need to rebuild that middle ground; come together as one. It’s incredible what we as a people can do when we come together. 

When Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, the United States stepped up, came together and prevailed. When America was attacked by terrorists from the Middle East, the United States stepped up, came together and prevailed.

It shouldn’t take a tragedy like these to bring us together.

We as Americans are capable of great things. The United States boasts the most powerful economy and the most powerful military in the whole world. Sure, there are other countries out there competing to outdo us, but that’s how it goes. If they are going to try to surpass us, then it is up to us to step up, come together and prevail; show the world the U.S. is best. 

For this to happen, we need to be trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair and caring. If we do those things and exhibit a high quality of citizenship, we will accomplish great things and overcome every feat. 

During his inaugural address, John F. Kennedy said words that have made a profound impact on me and the direction I have taken my life. During his address, he challenged every American to step up to the plate and come together as a united people, working to better our great nation.

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” – John F. Kennedy, Jan. 20, 1961, Washington, D.C.

Those words seem to be forgotten in this day and age. Too often, people ask what their country can do for them. When this mindset is applied, the country becomes weak.

It’s time for the people to step up and ask what we can do for our country, our state and our community; what we can do for our fellow man and woman; what we can do to make our nation strong, united and indivisible. Don’t be part of the problem; be part of the solution.