A brief history - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

Fifteen years ago this May - the May 13, 2010 issue of The Citizen, to be exact - was when my name first appeared above page four beside “Acting Editor”, a title that would, soon thereafter, lose its “acting” qualifier and begin the era of the full-fledged editor you read before you. Before that, the then-newly-hired Denny Scott and I were listed as fellow reporters atop the masthead, of course coming after stints of Bonnie Gropp and Citizen founder Keith Roulston at the top.

 

Whenever I have a tough time writing for this page, I always tend to reflect on what it is I’m actually doing here. What am I hoping to accomplish with this column? Do people even read it? If so, why? Do they always agree with you? Does that matter? Is that the goal?

 

Then I often find myself heading down the rabbit hole, thinking about columns I’ve written in the past, how they have changed over the years and how I’ve - in a way - grown into this role in the very pages of The Citizen, especially on this page, where I’ve often been personal about what it is I write and share.

 

In those early days of writing a column, I would obsess about it all week, thinking about what I wanted to say with my very own 600 words this week; 600 words that could come together to be whatever I wanted them to be. I probably focused on it too much, to be honest, because I remember talking with Keith at one point and he told me to remember to take a balanced approach because, while some read the editorials and columns, many do not.

 

Around that time, I was told that my column was all about sports. I soon began to sprinkle in some serious criticism or commentary on what was going on in the world at the time, whether it be the crime of the day or a weird news story, not necessarily wanting to receive argumentative letters to the editor, but not not necessarily wanting to receive those letters.
However, as I felt like I settled into the role and had a few dozen columns under my belt, the rule I tried to most adhere to was to tackle an issue of the day or a subject I wanted to discuss, but always inject a bit of humanity. As someone who wasn’t born and raised in this community, a community that so relies on its familial roots and established relationships, I felt it was my responsibility to try and play catch-up and introduce myself to the readers of this newspaper one column at a time.

 

By taking that approach, I’ve shared a lot in this column. There have been times that I’ve been depressed, sad or angry and times of joy and happiness, as well as times of confusion and feeling like I didn’t understand what’s going on in the world and (far fewer) times that I felt like I finally understood it.

 

When I’ve written about my personal life on this page, it’s evolved too. There were stories of road trips with my girlfriend at the time that morphed into tales of home ownership in Blyth, engagement, marriage and eventually becoming parents and the lives of two little people that readers have come to know.

 

Speaking on the phone with a lovely reader the other day - someone I’d never met before - she asked about my children, knowing their approximate ages and asking about my daughter navigating the first year of school.

 

It’s in a moment like that one that it comes clear just how much of my life has been lived and shared on this page and, in later years, in the other pages, as my children grow up and take part in all of the activities I’ve helped to document for your children and grandchildren for all these years. It has been truly rewarding to become part of the community in that way and to see so many things come full circle.