EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK -- MARY BETH P. ADOMAITIS

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection.

And while these are busy times with everyone running about with their

own lives, they may not take a minute to remember why they are thankful

this holiday.

For me, this is the time of year when I realize just how grateful I am

for some things in my life.

For starters, I am grateful for my family, friends, co-workers,

doctors and nurses who have helped me during a very trying year.

Earlier this year, I lost my daughter and not a day goes by that I

don’t think of her. I am grateful to have those thoughts.

I am thankful I am able to work in Huntington Beach. Where else in

Southern California but here can one find news and controversy brewing

around every corner, work five minutes from the beach and enjoy all

luxuries of Orange County without actually living here. (I’m not

grateful, however, for the traffic I have to drive through to get here

every day from Corona, but I am thankful for FasTrak).

I am thankful that the Independent has such a strong voice in the

community. I know that I can come into work every day and hear feedback

-- whether it be praise or criticism -- from somebody in Fountain Valley

or Huntington Beach.

I am thankful these communities have watchdogs to keep city and school

officials on their toes, not to mention us journalists here at the

Independent.

I am thankful for my reporters -- Angelique Flores, Tariq Malik, Mike

Sciacca and Torus Tammer -- as well as all of our columnists, for they

are really the backbone of this newspaper, not to mention the other

hard-working editors, designers and photographers who put this paper

together every week.

I am thankful for my mentors who taught me the difference between good

and bad journalism, as well as for present and former bosses for giving

me this chance to be an editor on such a strong and well-respected

newspaper.

I am thankful that my husband is cooking half of our dinner today and

that my mother-in-law will be there with us.

I am thankful that most of the rest of my family will be together back

home in Ohio.

And finally, I’m thankful for my loving husband John and my dog Oscar.

No matter how bad my day is or how rotten I feel after a long commute on

the Riverside freeway, I can always count on them to help me feel better.

* MARY BETH P. ADOMAITIS is the city editor of the Independent.