Who Am I?

The hours on Thursday, May 23 that followed the news I was laid off from The Grove Sun/Delaware County Journal, were a fog.

It felt like my world got sucked into a tornado – not unlike the ones I had been covering only minutes before. But when I landed, I wasn’t among debris. It felt like a strange vortex complete with a new identity.

I was no longer “Kaylea with the Grove Sun” a moniker I carried for the last six years, one month and four days.

I was suddenly just “Kaylea.”

I’ve lived my life dedicated to bringing my community news in Grove, since I went to my very first event Grove High School prom on April 20, 2013. Freshly moved from Little Rock, I left my apartment that night, knowing my world was changing for the better.

I say my community, because when I interviewed (on Good Friday 2013) I told then-publisher Cheryl Franklin, I knew to be successful as a community journalist, you had to embed yourself into the coverage area.

I knew then I would have to “eat, breathe and sleep” in Grove, in order to cover the news that would matter most.

And so I did.

Along the way, I met my husband, made amazing friends and found two different church homes. I also found places to serve, as I strived to give my time, talents, gifts and service within my community.

Frankly, I made my home in Grove. I put down roots, which began to run deep.

In 2016, I added the duties of managing editor of Delaware County Journal to my resume. Those added duties gave me the rare opportunity and gift to cover stories across the entire county.

Be it stories about young women starting a free little library (did you know we have three in the county) or walking alongside a rape victim as she spoke her victim statement aloud – then subsequently telling her story.

I’ve told students “everyone has a story, you just have to ask the right questions.”

For six, going on seven years, Delaware county residents have trusted me to share their stories. I’ve had the opportunity to tell hundreds of stories during my time at the two papers.

It’s a privilege I never took for granted.

I told stories that mattered. Oh some where more fun to write than others, But ultimately all needed to be told.

It seems fitting my last official stories for the two papers involved the storm – which included two tornadoes impacting friends, and the retirement of a friend from a job she loved.

I had no idea as I finished the lines on the last entry on Thursday afternoon, the story would become my last at The Grove Sun.

I was one of the many (industry reports indicate up to 200 across the country) who suddenly found themselves without employment within the GateHouse chain of newspapers on the same afternoon.

As of that day, I ceased being the managing editor for both publications. The May 22 Delaware County Journal and the May 24 Grove Sun have become my final publications.

The Grove Sun and Delaware County Journal will continue sans Kaylea. I know I leave it in the capable hands of Chloe Goff and Rick Thielen, two fine writers I was proud to call colleagues.

Our world will continue to spin, and eventually, I’ll find my new place within its boundaries.

I hope my creativity will restart and grow, as I jump start and revamp my blog www.myscrappylife.com. I’m moving my old blogspot blog (it’s been woefully neglected for a considerable amount of time) to a WordPress site. I have set July 4 – Independence Day – to have it completely up and running.

As in the past, I plan to use my blog as my writing and photography platform. At God’s nudging (and the Lawman’s encouragement) I purchased my new web hosting last week – before the news of my lay-off.

Even in the haze of the initial shock, I know there are a million stories to tell.

What’s ahead – aka what’s going to pay the bills? Well, to quote a wise friend I believe “God’s Got This.”

I truly believe God has a plan for my life. I trust in the knowledge no matter what life holds, the next job – make that opportunity – will give me a platform to change the world.

In the immediate near future, I’m taking time to rest and recharge my creative batteries; read a stack of books (I kinda ordered a few more on Friday); and brainstorm a couple of fun projects with friends, until now we’ve only joked about in passing.

I’ll even make a trip to the Oklahoma press Convention to do a bit of writing and to pick up an award or two. While I’m not sure of all of them, I know the Veterans’ Day story and column, I co-wrote with Rodney Echohawk won first place in its category.

I’ll also spend the first two weeks of June serving the children/ youth of my church by teaching during Vacation Bible School and going to summer camp in Guinn, Alabama.

Please know, I’ll still be around. I call this community / region home. I’ve put down roots which continue to bring forth fruit through relationships I’ve developed and my still new (to me) marriage to The Lawman – aka we’ll celebrate four years on July 25.

I may no longer be “Kaylea from the Grove Sun and Delaware County Journal,”and that’s ok. I’ll get used to answering my phone a bit differently.

Regardless of my job title, I’m still Kaylea. The writer / photographer / creative soul / child of God, who calls this place home. Nothing can take that identity away from me.

Thank you for welcoming me into your world. I will always be grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given to tell your stories, and to provide you with a source of information.

This storm – and its aftermath – will pass. The effects will lesson, and life will continue.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for my next adventure.

Kaylea