And I-eeeeeee-I will always love you...

I’ll get straight to it, because, you know, deadline: Monday is my final day with The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press. Fourteen years ago I arrived bleary-eyed but bushy-tailed, exhausted from the 981-mile drive from Mississippi but excited about the new opportunity. I have since been assistant features editor, assistant city editor, columnist, features editor, sometime paper deliverer, and parking lot gardener.

Now, new opportunities await. I am moving on to become the How We Live editor for the USA Today Network’s Atlantic Region, overseeing the coverage of stories that intersect with race and culture.

Here, I have been among the few who were privileged (or cursed ... depending) to have my face attached to a name. Yet I am but one of dozens who have come and gone — or yet remain — who believe in the mission of being information providers, storytellers, the anchors you rely on for grounding, the light you turn to for guidance.

I cannot get Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You” out of my head. I have had so much fun with you the readers (remember the coloring and the makeover contests?) and with the staff. I can’t put a value on having had the latitude to write, edit or otherwise greenlight stories about facets of our lives that don’t get a deserved spotlight often enough.

I appreciate the reader tales submitted to Thrifty Thursday (please keep them coming; it will continue) as well as The Break’s longstanding How Rude/How Nice feature. Sharing even the small human experiences keeps us all engaged and connected.

And it is with that aim I implore you to keep supporting local journalism and to hold us accountable with your sincere feedback.

The features editor baton is being passed to another familiar name, longtime Pilot journalist Denise Watson. Denise has a strong command of local culture, as we have enjoyed from her stories. Please share with her your ideas.

Over and out.