Sedona: City of Refugees

“Look, Kathy. I think what you need is to find yourself a good man, someone who will love you and care for you. You never had that in Scott. You never had that in anybody. All you’ve ever had is that damn career of yours.”

Kathleen could not help but laugh at Carrie’s remark. “Ah, the good man theme! I wasn’t very good at that game, Carrie. To me, all that’s left is my career.”

“Well, then, go after it again if that’s what you want! Quit dawdling! Maybe you should go work for one of those big-time newspapers on the East Coast.”

Kathleen smiled. “No, what I really dream about is running a small newspaper. Be the editor, reporter…the whole shebang.”

For a second, her thoughts flew back to when she was in college and worked summers as a copy editor for a small newspaper in the Los Angeles suburbs. The editor, who was also the only reporter on the paper, was a cranky old woman. Kathleen remembered subscribers loved her or hated her, but they never ignored her. She did not understand why the vision of that woman stayed with her for thirty years, creating a longing she could not explain.