It’s officially the midpoint of the holiday season. No, I’m not talking about Halloween or Christmas (both great holidays in their own right). I’m talking about the holiday that often gets overlooked between the two.

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday to me. I used to look at Thanksgiving as a time where I can eat as much food as I possibly can. Now, I think of it for the true reason for the holiday – a time to be thankful for what you have.

You see, I’ve been fortunate during my life to have a strong family support system. Everyone was there for every holiday, and we all came together quite regularly.

As time went on, and we all got older, it got harder for everyone to be together all of the time. After all, we all have lives to attend to.

But as life goes on, so do people. My grandfather on my father’s side of the family passed away just under a month ago. I called him Papa.

It was a tough loss for the entire family, and for me the hardest loss I’ve ever had to experience in my 22-year old life. Papa was someone I looked to as a role model and icon in my life. 

I made a promise to myself when I got to college that I would put in my best effort to see Papa as much as I could and to make him proud.

I saw Papa for the last time in the nursing home he was at for four years. He was in a vegetative state and couldn’t communicate with anyone. It was very unlike him.

During my last visit with Papa, I got to tell him about my potential new opportunity with The Covington News. During this time, I was still in the preliminary interview process for the news editor position. While he couldn’t talk, I did see a slight smile on his face. He was aware of what was happening around him at that moment.

After leaving the nursing home that day, Papa passed away 90 minutes later.

While the immediate days after were tough, I knew that I had made good on the first part of my promise. But for him to stick around and be able to hear that I was pursuing my dreams made me feel like I had made good on my second part of the promise.

I’m thankful I got to experience that powerful moment, just a short time before Papa’s death.

It will be my first Thanksgiving without Papa, and it will be different, but I’m also very thankful to have the opportunity to spend the holiday with the rest of the family. And next year, should I be so blessed to see it, there will be two new additions to the family with a new second cousin and my first niece on the way.

That’s right, I’m going to be an uncle! I’m so excited!

I’m incredibly thankful for the growth of our family and I’m excited to meet my new family members next year.

Combining work and family together, I’m also thankful for my new work family here at The News. 

It was a scary thought leaving my work family over in Monticello. I really didn’t want to leave that job, I just knew it was time. I had to leave in order to reach my full potential. I knew, however, that the hardest part of switching jobs was going to be leaving my work family at the old place and joining a new one.

But what I’ve learned in my short life is that you know when something is going to be “right.” From the first time I stepped foot in the office for my interview, I knew that this place was “right.”

It only further grew within my first eight days on the job, as I already have felt so welcomed by everyone here in the office. Editorially speaking, I also feel right at home as I have found myself to be a part of an outstanding editorial team. Phillip and Garrett are two of the most driven, hard working individuals I’ve had the chance to work with and I’m honored to be working alongside them.

I’m extremely thankful for the new opportunity that I’ve been given here at The News, and I plan to take the proverbial “brass ring” I’ve earned and run with it.

And last but not least, I’m thankful for the self growth that I’ve experienced in my own life.

At the beginning of 2023, I was completely directionless. I knew I was looking to graduate college, but didn’t know where to go from there. I was burnt out creatively and felt like life was just passing me by.

But now, things are clicking and I’ve never been more driven and determined in my life than I am right now. To me that has also translated to personal happiness. I have never been more happy than I am right now in this present time period.

So, for that I’m thankful.

The world can be a dark and terrible place. We all have our own struggles and our own demons.

But if there’s one thing I would heed advice for this Thanksgiving, is to not to skip over it in favor of an early Christmas, but to remember the true meaning of the holiday. And with that, find something that you’re thankful for.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving season.

Evan Newton is the news editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.