RAISE A GLASS. Tom Giffey, co-managing editor of Volume One, recently turned my-coworker-is-the-same-age-as-my-college-degree years old. And that's quite the career milestone!

I passed a significant career milestone earlier this fall: As of September, I had spent 21 years working in local media in the Chippewa Valley. (Insert party horn sound effect here.) Sure, a 20th anniversary may be a more traditional date to celebrate, but considering the year we’ve had, I’ll take any excuse I can get to highlight something positive. Plus, because 21 is a magic number when it comes to consuming our unofficial state beverage, this anniversary also gives me a reason to crack a cold one in the office while writing this column. (Note to boss: I’m kidding! Haha!) While I’ve been writing and editing here at Volume One for nearly eight years, the first 13 years of my ink-stained career were at the Leader-Telegram, which I joined in the fall of 1999 as an intern with a fresh degree from UW-Madison. As the years have gone by, I’ve frequently reflected on the near-miraculous nature of my career: I graduated on the cusp of the new millennium – a millennium in which digital outlets and downsizing have devastated print outlets everywhere – with a degree in print journalism. In retrospect, that may seem as sensible as getting a degree in buggy manufacturing just as Henry Ford fires up the Model T. And yet here I am, still creating words for print and online consumption by the readers of the Chippewa Valley. I’m enormously fortunate that there are still literally thousands of people and scores of businesses across the Valley who loyally support this publication. Without exaggeration, I can say the past 21 years have been rewarding in ways that are hard to describe in words. And no, that’s not the beer talking.