Why I love my job

 I'm not very good at small talk. Just give me the facts. Spit it out. What's the bottom line? That's from 15 years of newspapering, I think.There's not much time, or space — in the newspaper, or in my brain. But being a newspaper reporter can be so rewarding and fulfilling, that I wouldn't trade it for anything, despite my hampered conversational skills. For example, 10 years ago, I wrote about Elijah Doyle, a 10-year-old north Jacksonville boy who walked by himself to school every day through a crime-ridden neighborhood. A picture of him en route ran on B-1 September 10, 1997. People read it and reacted. (I love when than happens!)Readers offered groceries, two bicycles, a daily taxi ride and a used car to Elijah Doyle and his parents, who had no vehicle and were struggling to survive working labor pool jobs.The family took the car and moved to Wade, N.C., a safe, quiet rural town, to be near relatives, and their world changed.Nearly every year since the story ran, Elijah's mom, Tamara Signal, has sent me a Christmas card.This year, she wrote and sent photographs of a grown-up Elijah, who finished high school, works full-time as a welder building homes at Fort Bragg Miltary Base. He writes poetry and designs tattoos on the side, she said, and he plans marry his high school sweetheart on Valentine's Day this year."You've changed our lives. We'll never forget you," she wrote. "Please tell your staff we all said hello."That says it all.