MEET CAROL, THE MOTHER OF THE BRIDE-TO-BE.

Byline: Posted by Carol Rock valleynews.com user

There's something about the circle of life. No matter how many times we chase our tails, we always end up in the same place.

Long ago, when I jumped into the deep end of the journalistic pool, I covered community events. I moved on to report about education, government, features and cops, but always had a soft spot for what made our community tick.

Call it institutional memory. I savor knowing where the bodies are buried and how to spell their names and why you can't put certain people at the same table at your daughter's wedding.

So my newest assignment, as a community reporter for valleynews.com, is akin to putting on an old sweater from the back of the closet -- warm and familiar and stretched out in all the right places.

Valleynews.com is a citizen journalism project, where readers send in stories, pictures, art and blogs. They do the writing, leaving me to blog about sweaters and things that either fascinate or frustrate me. I'm pretty happy in this new/old spot.

Too many times over the last (mumbled) years I've had to tell someone that the thing that mattered most to them ``wasn't newsworthy.'' With valleynews.com, that's all changing. With one click, people will be able to find out what's going on in town, who's celebrating a special anniversary, what businesses are new or hanging in there after 20 years, who's upset about the latest development and whose daughter is getting married.

You'll hear about weddings a lot in the next year, by the way. My youngest daughter is engaged to the love of her life and we're planning a great party for February 2008. I carry a copy of ``The Idiot's Guide to Being the Mother of the Bride'' in my purse just to make sure I stay on course.

Now that I'm not covering local politics, I can again have an opinion -- a relief for the bleeding tongue I've been biting for a long time. Recently, one of the candidates for the local water board used his son's free military mail privilege to send out 1,200 letters boosting his candidacy. That's simply an abhorrent violation of one of the few privileges given our military, but something the arrogant incumbent has brushed off as sour grapes from his opponent, a retired naval officer. She has filed a grievance with the state Fair Political Practices Commission. I hope she takes him to the cleaners.

My son spent 4 1/2 years in the Army as a paratrooper and Special Forces officer. I spent more than $500 sending him care packages and missives from home when he wasn't reachable via e-mail. Perhaps the arrogant winner could donate $1,000 cash from his campaign coffers -- the funds that should have been used for the mailer -- and give it to a group like Prayer Angels for the Military or the Blue Star Mothers so they can continue their support of troops deployed -- and doing what they are there to do, instead of being distracted by a mass mailing.

These kind of things affect the quality of life in my community, the subject I care most about and am privileged to cover. Don't like what I said? Log on to valleynews.com and write a commentary of your own. That's the beauty of community. Despite our differences, we're all part of the great circle of life.

To post your own stories and photos, log on to valleynews.com.