The View from Here

Saying good-bye
For the past several weeks I have been trying to figure out how to say good-bye when I wasn’t leaving. It is The View From Here that is leaving. Unfortunately my macular degeneration has progressed to a stage where it is incumbent upon me to focus on learning new methods for doing old procedures. I can’t speak for old dogs, but I am a slow learner at new tricks — especially in this fast moving electronic age.
Along with the View, I am also giving up driving even the few blocks from my home to the Senior Center. I cannot tell you the exact number of years that I have written my column for the Healdsburg Tribune, but when I asked Ray Holley, who was the editor that induced me to submit a column every three weeks, he couldn’t remember either.
I can tell you the exact number of years I have been driving. I received my first license at age sixteen in Topeka, Kansas in 1930. (I’ll save you doing the math.) Yes I am 99 years old and yes I have been driving legally for 83 years. Learning to live without driving is not an easy adjustment.
Many of the devices of digital gratification do not lend themselves to impaired eyesight. On the other hand our wonderful state and national library system does a marvelous job of supplying audio reading material.
I would be remiss if I did not take this occasion to say how grateful I am for the opportunity that the Tribune has afforded me over the years to write in support of equality, fair labor practices, education, health care, gun control, our local food bank, library, and women’s rights. These were all subjects near and dear to my heart. Thank you Rollie Atkinson, Kerrie Lindecker, Ray Holley and especially those readers who took the time to comment on my column when we met at various times. Mostly you were very kind and complimentary. Some of you were graciously polite in saying you read the column but didn’t agree with me. If what I wrote initiated reasonable and thoughtful discussion I feel rewarded. Thank you all.
Lucie Jensen is a Healdsburg resident.