Fielder's Choice

Twenty years ago this week I walked into the front door of The South Reporter office building the first time.

Pam and I had scoped out Holly Springs only once before deciding to make the move.

A new job in a new place is filled with several emotions, from excitement to uncertainty. But it didn't take long at all for the Burlesons to figure out they had made a good decision.

The staff here at the newspaper and the kind folks of Holly Springs and Marshall County rolled out the welcome mat. The hospitality was overwhelming.

I recall, in the first few days on the job, going to a swearingin ceremony for elected officials and roaming around town taking some feature photos, at Rust College and other places.

For several weeks I was simply "the new guy at the paper."

That tag was perfectly fine.

Then I graduated to Barry and was often asked, "Now how do you spell that last name?"

We were the only Burlesons in Marshall County then, and I'm pretty sure we still hold that designation today.

I'd done this before ­ moved to a new town as editor. But never had I gotten this type of warm reception.

Then a shocker hit the Burleson family and turned out to verify that the Good Lord was backing us on this move.

Pam called me from Laurel, where she was packing boxes, to let me know the results of her visit to the doctor.

"I'm pregnant," she said.

I cried. She cried. This was unplanned.

We kicked the family move into high gear, got Emma and Andy in school here, and started to settle into a rental house for the time being.

Then on January 1, 2002, our "surprise child" arrived three months early. Erin entered this world weighing just 2 pounds and 6 ounces.

That's when this community and its good people really took us under their huge wing of kindness. We could feel the prayers, and we were uplifted by all the help ­ from bringing meals to the house to helping take care of the other two children while Pam and I were burning up the road back and forth to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

Not long after Erin was born, we sold our house in Laurel and then also sold a house we still owned in Aberdeen. Things were coming together for us, and we were quickly falling in love with our new hometown, Holly Springs.

I started getting involved in things like Rotary Club, the Chamber and youth sports. I visited all the schools, getting to know the administrators and the coaches.

We bought a house and put down roots, and the 20 years have flown by.

Looking back, my initial thoughts go to my South Reporter family. Newspaper employees go through a lot together, and it's a bond that cannot be broken. I've been blessed by the good folks I work with at 157 South Center Street.

The Burlesons' move to Marshall County in 2001 changed our lives for the better.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for taking us into the fold.