Sarah Payne’s last day at The Tri-City News was March 30. Before she left to start a job with the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, she filed this final piece.
There is a map of the Tri-Cities taped to my cubicle wall that is in rough shape. It has been folded, unfolded, scrunched and flattened so many times that, even with the most careful of tape applications, in some spots there are only holes where streets and intersections used to be.
I was given the map when I started at The Tri-City News in June 2005, before the advent of smartphones and their handy driving directions. The map was my lifeline as I bluffed my way through the first harrowing weeks on the job. It was a trusted guide as I learned about the Tri-Cities and how to navigate its neighbourhoods through the stories I was telling.
And there have been a lot of them in 12 years, so it has been with a heavy heart that I have travelled through this week of lasts.
Last council meeting. Last interviews. Last press conference. Last time pushing past the TV cameras for a photo (won’t miss that). Last office potluck (will definitely miss that).
Last days as a reporter.
It means the end of one of the best gigs out there, one that has allowed me to sit in your living rooms, kitchens, shops and offices to put myself in your shoes and share your stories with our readers.
I have been struck by the courage of those facing a grave illness and humbled by those who lay bare their lives so others don’t encounter a similar fate.
I have been inspired by the people who volunteer their time and skills to make their community a better place even while juggling busy work and family commitments.
I have felt heartbreak for families reeling from tragedy and the frustration of victims of crime.
And, too many times to count, I have been awed by the incredible talent and accomplishments of the musicians, artists and athletes in our midst.
I am so grateful to the people who took the time to talk to me. I hope I got your stories right.
A lot has changed in the Tri-Cities in the last 12 years: The imminent light rapid transit line I wrote about in July 2005 took a bit longer than expected (and isn’t LRT) while the much-discussed Murray-Clarke Connector never got off the books.
Frequent grow op busts dwindled and will soon be replaced with legalized marijuana. In 2008, builders on Burke Mountain were actually dropping prices to entice buyers (my ancient map shows the neighbourhood as largely white space with few streets).
But the generosity of Tri-City residents hasn’t changed much, from a Port Moody woman who donated her kidney to a stranger to the legions of Cornerstone Seventh Day Adventist volunteers who helped overhaul homes for families in need, and all those who pitched in at the cold/wet weather shelters in Tri-City churches.
Lost hikers have been gratefully rescued by Coquitlam Search and Rescue volunteers trekking up mountains in the dead of night. Struggling parents have been able to feed their children with hampers assembled by Share food bank volunteers. Hundreds more help at events like Wheel to Heal, the Terry Fox Run and Golden Spike Days, all in the spirit of making the Tri-Cities greater still.
I am moving on to a new job, and while I look forward to the challenges ahead, nothing brings on a torrent of wistful nostalgia quite like this march to the end. That nostalgia will likely stay with me for a long time to come. My family has lived in the Tri-Cities for about five years, so I am surrounded by the memories of stories I have written — many of them noted by dots on my tattered map.
I’ll leave it on the cubicle wall for the next new reporter to navigate their own stories.
