A First Effort - So Here Goes!

Welcome to "On The Porch With Gwendy", which I hope will be a series of visits that you and I
could have if we were sitting on my porch, somewhere that I love to be. I'll be doing the talking, but I'd love for you to respond if you have something to say on any given subject.

My name is Gwendy Dungey Garner and my professional background includes newspaper work and healthcare public relations and marketing. After 35 years in the workforce, I am now retired. Throughout my professional careers, I did a lot of what I love... writing. As a newspaper writer and editor, I wrote the news, soft news, harder news........in our small town we didn't have a lot of really hardcore news. I wrote about the births, the deaths, the engagements and the weddings. I chronicled the things your kids did in school.....the sporting events, the awards, the graduations. I wrote about the club work and organizational work in our small town. But there was also the County Board news and there were city council meetings. Very occasionally there were murder trials and other criminal events. I didn't really enjoy writing about those things. But at a small town newspaper, you learn to do it all. In addition to writing and editing, there were ads to take over the counter and over the phone. There were lots of pictures to be taken. There was proofing, lots of proofing, something that doesn't seem to happen at a lot of newspapers these days. I learned that I could never go anywhere without a pen and tablet. Something newsworthy might happen and I would have to take notes! I miss that world and guess I always will.
And then there were the years of hospital PR and marketing. I started that endeavor at a time when hospitals were just beginning to have PR departments. It was scary and I kind of had to carve it out of the wall at times, but we got through it. Again, at a small and rural hospital, most people didn't really understand what went on in that office, if in fact, anything went on in that office. My work again involved quite a bit of writing - in new and different directions than I had done before, but interesting. Promoting a healthcare facility and its professionals is an animal unto itself. I certainly learned to respect the professionals at that hospital. I learned to respect their knowledge, their dedication, their integrity, their abilities and the stressors that they met on a day-to-day basis. I hope that after 24 1/2 years I left it a little better than I found it. Who ever knows, really?

Retirement is a category in life that I highly recommend - if you find you have the stomach for it.
It can include those extra cups of coffee in the morning with a good book or the newspaper, curled up next to your wiener dog, Albert. It can include the early morning news show, again with those cups of coffee. I really like this part. And it can include staying up late at night if you want to. I had missed that part over the past 35 years and I've really been taking advantage of it. It can also include a lot of community involvement and volunteering if that sort of thing appeals to you or if you have not effectively learned the word "no".

I guess the important thing is to do what makes you happy. Right now is where I probably should use the Facebook term LOL, along with a smiling emoji, because on any given day it's hard to know just what that is. I take it a day at a time. When I retired, a very close friend, a young woman, sent me a poster that reads:
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go out and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive." (Howard Thurman)
So that's what I'm doing. So far, so good. And to a very good friend who is looking toward retirement, I hope that's what you will do.

This is a first effort for "On The Porch With Gwendy". I just wanted to introduce myself a little. I'll be back, but I'm not sure how often at first. I hope some of my ramblings will strike your fancy.
Remember - the world needs people who are alive!!! So, until next time and every chance I get, I'll be out on the porch!

July 5, 2016