Let’s talk about the excitement first.

I have worked at The Observer since 1986 – yes, a very long time. During those years I have worked through many, many changes, the most challenging of which have been the technological changes.

When Dr. Owen Phelps and Bishop Arthur J. O’Neill hired me, The Observer was one of only a few newspapers to have “computers.” They were small TS80 models that held 32 bits of information. It was cutting edge!

It was the dawn of a new era for newspapers. That one little machine cut out the act of typing a story and then having it retyped by a typesetter. While that was going on, our diocese developed a method to capture news from the wire service and input it right to the computer — again eliminating more steps in the news gathering and output process.

As cutting edge as those changes seemed, they were just a tipping point of what was to come. The Observer went from cut and paste preparation of the paper to full electronic pagination and transmission to the printer. The need for a dark room filled with photographic chemicals and tools was eliminated by the advent of digital photography. Delivering the finished product — large sheets of paper with pasted on copy and photos — to a printer was eliminated by the Internet.

Today our news delivery has been expanded and become more immediate thanks to Web pages and social media.

And now, thanks to newer and less expensive technology, The Observer will expand and change again.

Beginning Dec. 7, you will be able to literally flip through the pages of The Observer on your computer, IPad, Kindle Fire or other electronic tablet or your Smartphone. You will now be able to subscribe to The Observer and choose how you want it … paper, digital or both!

By the time you read my next column, you will be able to touch a screen and turn a page. Eventually you will be able to read about a parish event, touch or click the link provided in the story and be immediately taken to the website or video about that event! The Observer Online is yet another change for all of us and we hope it’s one that keeps you part of our cherished family of readers and brings us a new generation of Catholic readers. (Find out more about The Observer Online in the Nov. 23 issue.)

Now for some thanks.

Making The Observer better is a group effort and always has been, so I want to make sure to give thanks to our staff, our diocese and most of all to God for helping us deal with all the aforementioned changes. Lots of patience and commitment to our readers and our church were required to learn, adapt to and utilize the new technologies along the way. Looking back on what we had to do and how fast we had to adapt is really more stressful than having lived through it. It also makes me realize how glad I am that those changes are in the rearview mirror!

Now for a different kind of thanks.

We just completed the priviledge of voting for the leader of our nation. That seemed to be a stressful and divisive time for our nation, especially in the days winding down to the election. And the day after the election, the social media world was ablaze with verbal bricks being tossed by both sides at the other.

However, in the midst of all that, one of my dear cousins posted this comment on her Facebook page. Out of everything thrown about, post-election, this gave me great pause and put everything in its right perspective. May we share my cousin’s hope and optimism …

“Another four years. I heard that a lot today. With two distinct inflections in the voices being heard. Whether you are delighted or disappointed ... there is another four years ahead. Another four years of beautiful sunrises, gorgeous sunsets. Another four years of smelling the rain, sparkling snow; crunchy leaves in the fall. Another four years of loving my children and grandchildren; friends, family, workmates. And I hope another four years of visiting and laughing with my parents.

Another four seasons of first dandelions, violets, the first robin, gardens, mowing the lawn, school papers and pictures plastered all over my refrigerator.

Yep ... another four years. I am thankful in a very non-political way.”