Dear readers,
If you think the upcoming holidays are the only occasions you should celebrate, think again.
The news of many anniversaries has landed on my desk recently, including Lakewood Elementary’s 75th, Lakewood Home Tour’s 50th, Creative Arts Center of Dallas’s 60th, Cara Mía Theatre’s 30th season, Amanda Dalton School of Dance’s 20th and Dairy-Ette’s 70th. Not to mention that our Wildcats at Woodrow Wilson High School are coming up on their centennial in 2028.
That’s an overwhelming amount of history and celebration, especially for the editor who has to cover these milestones. But anniversaries are supposed to make us slow down and reflect. I like to approach these stories by showcasing evolution, contrasting the past and present with one eye on the future.
My favorite quote is, “Life can only be understood backwards,” by the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. That’s the other part of anniversary stories: recognizing what a school, a teacher, a performance space, a restaurant, a place to be ourselves means to us. Moments we can only appreciate and fully comprehend through the rearview mirror.
My mind often wanders back in time, more so on my journalism career these days. Amazingly, I keep landing on gratitude. For community members who have answered my calls and used their limited time to explain complicated subjects. For publishers who took a chance on hiring me when no one else would. For readers who send tips or pay me compliments. I remember you all.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Thanksgiving coming up, our yearly reminder to appreciate what we have instead of bemoaning what we don’t. Let these anniversaries be an extra push to observe our progress and be grateful to those who got us here.
Madelyn Edwards, Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate editor
