The Grand Rapids Press is changing

I guess it had to happen eventually. The daily newspaper I have read for most of my life is scaling down its home delivery to only three days a week. Whatever will I do now? No more comics in the morning. No more sports updates during lunch. No more news of the city, state, country or world after dinner on the couch. "We hope everyone will take advantage of our excellent on line services." The spokeswoman said. "This is just our way of giving the readers what they asked for." was another comment from her. What she didn't say was that it was their only way to survive financially in this ever changing age of electronic media. I'll survive too but I'll miss my daily newspaper like crazy.

Albeit begrudgingly, I have learned to use the Internet resources and increased my knowledge of the world in which I live. When cars became involved in electronics and fuel injection I screamed and insisted that the "Golden Age" of personal transportation was gone forever. Now, after having owned these new wonders of economy and efficiency I wouldn't care to turn back the clock and drive those old unreliable gas hogs ever again. The days of "getting a push" or waiting for the "choke" to open, or constantly having to restart a stalling engine are a fading memory. I have gotten used to a vehicle that starts and goes down the road with ease. In a few years I will probably become used to reading the news on a 17 inch screen while I'm walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike like the guys at the gym.

The one thing I'll miss the most though is the differing personalities of the reporters and their individual perspectives on what's going on in my neighborhood. Reading their columns with the paper wrinkling in my fingers suits my pace quite well actually. I can't count the times I read and re-read a sentence or paragraph so as to absorb the full impact. Wow! It gets me to thinking and feeling empathy for my fellow human beings in whatever situation they find them selves in. The articles on the screen don't quite feel the same. To me it feels far, far away from being personal. It simply becomes news. That's not the same is it?

The world has been changing since the beginning of time. I'll get used to it. Those that follow me will embrace it. They will also grieve the changes they face, same as me. Life is a series of changes. Youth is filled with discovery, adulthood brings challenges, triumph, defeat and resolution, aging brings even more challenges and with them comes a new understanding of acceptance. I will accept the newspaper's changes. I will not do it willingly. Two other things that come with age: Tenacity and resilience. Yeah, we're all over those two things.