FromtheEditor
On Saturday, The Dublin Chamber of Commerce hosted a banquet honoring Dubliners for their contributions to the community. An event like that doesn’t happen without a lot of planning and volunteering.
Kudos to the committee led by Rosemary Bencik and the Chamber of Commerce board members for the work they put into the evening.
I also want to recognize one specific volunteer who wasn’t even a board member but put a lot of hours into preparing invitations, publicizing and decorating for the event (helping the design guru JoEllyn Turner).
That volunteer is Wyndi Veigel, the Content editor for this paper and my girlfriend.
Wyndi and I have known each other for better than a decade but it was only through reconnecting right before the pandemic that we discovered how compatible we were. We would have countless phone calls and video dates watching movies, reading to each other and providing support for each other after difficult days.
We both admit we were different people the first time we tried dating in 2012, but it always feels like I’m the one who grew the most. I recognized how much of a driven and supportive woman she was then, but it wasn’t until we reconnected that I truly understood how unique it was to find someone with all of the qualities she possesses.
When we started talking again, she had achieved the position of a daily editor at The Marshall News-Messenger. She had realized a goal but the community was not a good fit for her.
As we got more serious, she started expressing a desire to leave a dream job and said she wanted to move closer to me. (She had visited the area many times by this point and found she loved Dublin and the local area.)
I was ecstatic at the thought but would always temper that excitement by asking if she was sure. I didn’t want her to leave the job if there were any misgivings at all.
After a lot of discussion, she interviewed for a job with the Hamilton Herald-News and worked there for several months until an opportunity opened in our office and she applied to join me at work.
I’ve been asked how it is to work with my partner. It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing to have someone so organized, supportive and passionate in my life and it’s a blessing to have her in the office.
I think back to all of those conversations we had about her moving here and me questioning if she really wanted the job or to move to this community. Her two decades as a confident journalist show in the way she approaches each story and the care she puts into each subject.
She also clearly cares about the Dublin community, because she doesn’t gripe about the long hours we have to put in. (Okay, we will gripe sometimes if we’re tired, but there is never a question that we will work late to get something done right.) She also immediately took to volunteering some of her limited free time to local organizations and events. Willingly!
She’s committed to me and that’s amazing. I’m even more amazed at her commitment to the community.
Speaking of commitment—This next part is meant for one particular reader who will be proofreading this column before it hits print. If you’re reading this, she said yes… Thank you so much for all the love and support you give me daily, Wyndi. Thank you even more for inspiring me to be better for your sake and through the example you provide. I’m sorry we lost each other once and I don’t want to let that happen again. Will you marry me? If you will, There is a box waiting for you behind the cabinet door at your desk.
I love you mostest!
—Paul Gaudette can be reached at publisher@ dublincitizen. com.