Twenty-five years. Exactly half my life. That’s how long I’ve been working at Guideposts, which just presented me with an official plaque.
I started out as an editorial assistant, by far the youngest of the three of us in that position at the time. Everyone around me seemed intent upon helping me learn and grow in my job. To my coworkers’ credit, I’ve held all sorts of titles since then—assistant editor, features editor, associate editor, copy chief, contributing editor to Guideposts, managing editor of Angels on Earth, and for the last 10 years or so, editor-in-chief of Angels.
When I started out, back in November 1986, a super-young Amy Grant was on the cover, our beloved Van Varner was editor-in-chief of Guideposts, and of course there was no Angels on Earth magazine. (There have always been angels on this earth, mind you.) Van’s successor, Fulton Oursler, Jr., started Angels on Earth magazine in 1990, and left me in charge of his “baby” when he retired. Well, pretty much in charge. Guideposts’ VP and current editor-in-chief, Edward Grinnan, helps me make Angels a better magazine in some way every issue.
More than a handful of the editorial people I work with today have been right here beside me almost since the day I started. Edward Grinnan, Rick Hamlin, Nancy Galya, Celeste McCauley, Celia Gibbons, Stephanie Samoy—I am so thankful to each and every one of them, especially. This picture was taken back then; that’s me, fifth from the left, with Edward standing to my right.
I love my job. The work is exciting, the readers uplifting, the message encouraging every day of the week, year in and year out. But if I had to pick the single thing that makes me thankful I’ve devoted half my life (so far!) to Guideposts, I’d say hands down it’s the second family I’ve found here.
