Knocking the rust (and dust) off

Greetings one and all:

It has been nearly five years since I last posted to this blog.

It is long past time I changed that.

Much has happened since that time. Most of those events many of you are aware of. Those who are not, here is a cliff notes version:

Work-wise I moved from Macomb to Canton, where I became sports editor of the Canton Daily Ledger. I was there from August 1, 2016 until May 23, 2019 when the position was eliminated by GateHouse Media and I was terminated.

On a personal level, I lost both of my parents just over 2 years ago. The loss of my mother hit me especially hard. She was more than mom, she was my best friend.

From that point, my health went into a tailspin to the point that I ended up in the hospital - the first six days in ICU. I was weak to the point where I had a fall at home, busting up my tailbone. I had to have back surgery, which took place the day before Thanksgiving 2017.

At my low point, my weight was down to 140 pounds, I was having hallucinations and there was a question if I was going to pull through. But by the grace of God, I am still here. I remain a work in progress on a number of fronts, but I plan to keep moving forward.

As for my work situation going forward, I am looking at a number of options. I have had a number of people say I should start my own sports-oriented website focusing on area high schools. Seeing first-hand what is happening to daily papers in the area (mostly owned by GateHouse) is in all honesty extremely disappointing. I would love to stay in sports writing, but that simply may not be possible. Like everyone else, I have bills to pay.

I look forward to the future and see what it holds. I believe that when one door closes, another one opens. In the meantime, I am not going anywhere. I will still be on Facebook and Twitter and of course I can be reached by e-mail - shelby.burget@gmail.com. I also plan on using this blog on a much more frequent basis as well to keep one and all updated.

That's it for now. TTYL.

Shelby