As a child I couldn’t wait for the mail to run on Thursday afternoons. That was the day my hometown newspaper arrived at my grandparents’ home.

They were faithful subscribers because my grandfather was interested to see if any of his loyal propane gas customers were in the obituaries.

Not me. I wasn’t interested in who had passed away.

I was fascinated with the juicy news stories on the front page or special-interest stories that told me who people were.

Back then, I wasn’t big enough to hold the spread in my hands.

So, I’d resort to the next best thing – the living room floor or my grandmother’s kitchen table to make sure I could read the jumps and the inside pages.

Nanny often scolded me for getting ink smudges all over my hands and face. Back then, I didn’t understand how anyone could read a newspaper without getting ink on their hands.

Heck, I still can’t, but now that blank ink (and color) signifies hard work.

As the years passed, I decided to make journalism my career.

Little did I know that my love would not be writing, but in the design work or making a masterpiece.

I’ve had the opportunity to have my hands in four newspapers, five, if you count college, countless special sections and now a magazine.

While it excites me each day to have the opportunity to put together the newspaper and see how it comes together, I’m even more excited to see where we can take our lifestyles magazine, South Alabama Living.

The latest edition came to our subscribers in the weekend paper and it’s available at our advertisers and at our office, and the best part is it’s free.

There are recipes, features about locals and a lot of scene photos from events throughout the county.

My hope is that when you see any of our products in a rack that you’ll get excited about what’s inside.

I know I am.