Today, I find myself awake and rattled because my home town newspaper, the Middlesboro Daily News, has led me to a place of anger, disappointment, and sadness. Throughout my life, I have sought refuge in taking and studying photos. In sentimental times, I browse through Facebook and try to find photos that remind me of how I was raised, that show me faces of those who loved me first, and that encourage me to write with my mother's grace and my dad's lack of filter. Let me just tell you how it is up front. If I've ever made you smile or shed a tear after reading ....hellofuzzy..., my ability to do that with words has been instilled by my educational background, encouraged by my parents, and fostered by more than one person as shown in the photo above. These are members of the First Christian Church in Middlesboro, and I stole the photo from Donna Greene's Facebook collection. You should know that I am not a member of the church, but its walls store many pages of my life's story growing up in Middlesboro. As I look at that photo, I see teachers, safe harbors, inspirations, the little girl my mother loved first long before I came along, and my beloved next door neighbors who introduced me to their beloved friend, Donna Greene, when I was just a little girl and in the process, I gained yet another role model who set an example for the citizen I hoped to grow up to become. Donna is pictured on the front row to the far left, and her smile and comforting words have encouraged and embraced me during every single milestone of my life.
Everybody knows Donna in Middlesboro. When you say that about a small town, there are two connotations to the expression, "Everybody knows...." I just clarify that everyone knows Donna by choice not by gossip. Donna's family's roots run deep throughout Bell County, and those roots were planted in times of hard work and sacrifice by her parents and their ancestors. Middlesboro has several characters known by their first names only. My mother is one, and so is Donna. To its benefit, the Middlesboro Daily News has used Donna's name during her hire to add a sense of credibility to its lifestyles section. God doesn't make no junk and Donna never printed any junk. Two facts I've known since I learned to sing "Jesus Loves Me." Now, the Daily News has decided after twenty-seven years to fire Donna in an unnecessary and curt manner as of October 19. My heart is broken for her, but more so, my heart is broken for the demographic who depend on her to bring highlights to their days. Not all folks in Middlesboro are plugged into this Internet we use to seek our news. The Middlesboro Daily News is the prominent source of news for many in my beloved home town, and most of the time, the only good news within its pages was compiled by my friend, Donna Greene. I believe those to write good news that make us smile and forget about the harsh headlines that often make the cover are the journalists whose work we should honor first.
My personal interactions with Donna during my life on Balmoral are too many to list. She is as a sibling to my precious Scott and Mary Ruth Coign and their son Jon. She and her sister Beverly were Jon's first friends. As I began to trot a worn path to the little white house next door when I was a child, I was often greeted by Donna's welcoming smile, and she listened to all I had to say with genuine interest and validation that some day the ideas I hope to write and the stories I hope to share would be read by the masses. She also listened to me vent to Scott and Mary Ruth about stories that would have made the headlines of the Daily News fly off the shelves by the thousands, yet she watched out for me, understood my frustration as a child, and never once betrayed my trust by running stories about antics others would have paid far more than fifty cents to read. A kid can learn a lot by sitting silently in a pawn shop.
I hate conflict. It takes the air from my lungs. My mouth becomes parched. My head grows swimmy. I cringe and have literal physical reactions to it in general. Today, I feel none of those things. Donna's painful fate is not an issue of conflict, it is an issue of love. She has penned the obituaries for my papaw Steve who taught me how whittle; for my WoWo who taught me how to properly eat a Reese's cup; for my dad who told me a lot of secrets in hopes that some day I'd publish one hell of a book, and I will; and for my beloved husband whose absence from my daily life has left a heart ache that Donna has written more than once to tell me she prays will some day be eased. She organized the senior photo section when I graduated from high school. She featured me in a story when my writing sent me like a bull in a China shop to a state academic competition. When my dad finally stopped fighting cancer, she and Beverly came to the cemetery and stood within inches of me as I laid him to rest. She has celebrated my accomplishments, prayed in my time of need, and shared her precious time with the Coigns with me when I know they didn't particularly want an awkward teenager interrupting their grown up conversations.
She is a living, breathing history reference for Middlesboro. She has provided filters that few journalists would have had the courtesy to use. She has taken time to acknowledge the sacrifice of veterans, praise the work of teachers, and encourage young people who are interested in journalism, sport, academics, and their love of life in general. She has been a source of validation when it comes to the credibility of the Middlesboro Daily News.
I am incredibly disappointed in my home town newspaper. Just a few short weeks ago, my mom was named "Best Person in Middlesboro" as a result of their Reader's Choice annual submission. My mom was tickled pink, but she'll tell you without a remote hesitation that she'd share the title with Donna Greene.
The Middlesboro Daily News has made a tragic error in judgment. I have found myself listing the names of Middlesboro residents who have passed on to Heaven and would have smooth blown a gasket had they been here yesterday when this information was shared. The Daily News thought it had reason for financial concern back in the days of fiery city council meetings and investigations into the wicked ways of the body of water of Yellow Creek that crawls along the Beltline. To quote Doug Campbell, "You ain't heard it thunder yet."
I love you, Donna.
