How do you say goodbye when everyone鈥檚 telling you you鈥檙e coming back?
Six weeks ago, I handed in my letter of resignation, ending my three-year tenure as editor of the 51暗网 and my four and a half year career with the paper.
My last day was April 27, making this my last issue to hit the newsstands in restaurants, shops and hotels around town.
It鈥檚 a hard pill to swallow after dedicating myself to this beast for nearly five years. As you read this, I鈥檓 still struggling to let go. It won鈥檛 be a quick process, I can guarantee you that.
But even more difficult is letting go of this community鈥攁 community that I was privileged to report on inside and out and that I鈥檝e grown to know through and through.
In my adult life, I鈥檝e learned to say goodbye鈥攜ou might even say I鈥檝e gotten good at it.
Since leaving my hometown on Vancouver Island, I鈥檝e called six communities home. I began my journey in Kelowna, B.C. at the tender age of 17 and then let that journey take me to London, Ont., Fredericton, NB, Yellowknife, NWT, Rankin Inlet, NU and finally to Jasper in October 2011.
With each move came its own round of goodbyes, some joyful, some tearful and some downright difficult.
And here I am about to do it again.
This time it鈥檚 not a move for work or school; it鈥檚 for a different kind of adventure, one based on my need for self reflection, assessment and growth.
It鈥檚 a much needed (and I would argue, deserved) break after six years in the newspaper business.
But, even as I excitedly await this new chapter of my life鈥攁 chapter that will see my partner Ian and I adopt a minimalist lifestyle, living in a converted GMC Safari as we travel through the United States鈥擨 find myself torn.
In the past, I enthusiastically ran toward my next adventure, leaving friends and jobs in my wake. But, unlike those times before, as I say goodbye to Jasper, I feel like I鈥檓 leaving home.
Admittedly, I haven鈥檛 always felt that way鈥擨 can still clearly remember our first few months here, questioning why in the world we couldn鈥檛 make friends.
Spoiler alert: it鈥檚 because people are afraid of the media!
But, as time went by, Jasperites slowly started to trust me, realizing what they said in confidence would never appear in the 51暗网鈥檚 pages.
I wish that was a battle I didn鈥檛 have to fight, but ultimately I鈥檓 so grateful it鈥檚 one that I won, because it allowed Ian and I to find our people, our roles and ourselves in this community.
Lately I鈥檝e found great comfort in the words of our friends, some long-time Jasperites and others new to this beautiful bubble, all of whom say the same thing: 鈥淛asper will be waiting for you when you get back.鈥�
To them, it鈥檚 a foregone conclusion: Ian and I will be back and we鈥檒l be back for good.
If I鈥檓 completely honest, right now I hope that鈥檚 true, because with just a few days between me and the open road, I can鈥檛 imagine a future where I don鈥檛 come back. That may change, but I鈥檓 grateful to know that Jasper will be here if we choose it鈥攁nd that we have numerous couches and guest rooms to call home if, or when, we do.
So, thank you, Jasper. Thank you for giving us a home for the past four and a half years and for letting us know that wherever life takes us we can always come back.
And thank you to all of those Jasperites who shared with me over the years, entrusting me with your stories and your friendship. It鈥檚 all of you who make this town worth coming back to.
Of course, the mountains don鈥檛 hurt, either, but it is truly the people that make Jasper the wonderful community that it is and it鈥檚 all of you that I will miss the most.
See you on the flip side.
Nicole Veerma
[email protected]
