Six years later I finally have an Ahwatukee Foothills address.
When my wife and I moved to Arizona from Ohio in 2004, we told our real estate agent to look at homes in this area. We ended up buying in Mesa, but I have always had my heart set on Ahwatukee.
And, now, here I am.
OK, so my local address is only on my business card and not my permanent address but it is a start that may very well end up with me calling a moving company to bring everything else.
When I told my wife, Misty, that I landed the sports writer position at the Ahwatukee Foothills News, her eyes were as big, bright and beautiful as one of the fireworks at Red, White and Boom!
What I am really saying is the decision maker is already looking at homes available in Ahwatukee.
In the meantime, I can continue doing my hobby – writing about sports without having to get a real job. Yes, I do get paid but “work” and “job” have nothing to do with going to sporting events.
It’s a love of mine that started way back in the seventh grade when I knew exactly what I wanted to do in my professional career.
I have had a passion for sports and writing about it for a long time and I hope, you as a reader, will discover over time that the passion bleeds into the work I do for AFN.
It is going to be a difficult task replacing Larry Ward as he has done a wonderful job of doing exactly what a community newspaper is supposed to do – expose the readers to the other side of sports.
Results are important, but not as vital as getting to know those who are behind them.
I have always known that, but I was reminded recently when we were preparing for a garage sale – I can already feel a moving sale coming on – and I was rifling through my office to find anything that might bring in some big bucks.
I came across a bunch of media guides from my previous job of professional teams, Fiesta Bowls and PGA events, but what stopped me dead in my tracks was a file folder from my old paper in Ohio.
It, too, was a small community paper that I worked at for about four years and when I announced that I was leaving for Arizona I received an outpouring of correspondences from the readers thanking me for my time there.
Those kind words really touched me for a second time considering I really haven’t had a place to call home professionally over the last year and a half, working mostly as a freelancer.
But now I hope to have found a new one here in Ahwatukee.
At the very least, the decision maker will probably make sure that we do.
