Chaffin: Thank you from my heart to yours

Dear readers, consider this a thank you from my heart to yours.

It has been a privilege to write for you these past five years — and for three years before that — and five years before that.

I believe God placed me at the Salisbury Post the first time so I would be with a loving, nurturing work family when I lost my mother in my 20s.

Looking back, I do not believe that it was anything less than a divine plan for me to return two years before I lost my father due to hospital errors. Again, the Post family and many of you reached out to help heal my devastated and, admittedly, very angry heart.

Each time I left, I continued to write occasional freelance articles and remained in close contact with my dear friends at the newspaper.

I will always treasure the time I was able to spend with longtime columnist Rose Post upon returning full time in 2005. My friendship with Rose, who became like a second mother to me when I lost my own, has been and continues to be a precious gift.

As many of you know, I faced what may have been my greatest challenge when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2007. Two days before my double mastectomy, I awakened in the middle of the night feeling like God was asking me to write about it.

In my “Hope, Faith and Fear: A Reporter’s Journey Through Cancer” column series that followed, I said that writing about losing my breasts and being bald wasn’t something I would have ever chosen to do.

But I had experienced the great joy that comes from listening to God, even if what He’s asking means baring my soul and going way outside my comfort zone.

I still run into people who tell me how brave I was then. Trust me, I was not. But writing the columns made me feel like I had a mission, which ultimately helped me to survive that redefining period of my life.

Many of you prayed for me. Wanda Allen, who has since become a dear friend, once told me at a meeting that she prayed for me every time she saw my byline in the newspaper.

I was moved to tears.

I have said it before, but let me take this opportunity to say again how very grateful I am for all the prayers, cards, e-mails, visits and encouraging words I received from the Post staff and readers.

Since returning to work after completing my chemotherapy, I have felt a gentle nudging to focus on my spiritual writing and have slowly begun returning to my inspirational speaking. I have an urgent message to share which I believe offers hope for a rapidly changing world.

One of the topics I used to speak about was “Celebrating the Dream Inside You.” At some point, I realized that I was encouraging others to do something I had not yet done myself.

Your response to my “Spiritually Speaking” columns that ran on the Post’s Faith page in 2006 and my “Hope, Faith and Fear” columns the following year helped give me the courage it is taking to do that now.

I plan to compile both series of columns into books and self-publish them along with another inspirational book I have written and several children’s books on taking care of the planet and simple living. And I know in my heart that there are other books still inside me.

My other plans include offering programs at churches, planning hope rally events and marketing a series of inspirational quotes that I began writing in 2001.

I will likely end up looking for a part-time job or a job with more regular hours until I get my projects up and going, and I also hope to write more features for the Post now and then.

Part of me is terrified about starting a new venture in these economic conditions, but the other part is excited and believes there is no better time to write and speak about hope than right now.

Still, it is with much sadness that I leave my Post family — and all of you. But when you love people, they become a part of you and you carry them with you in your heart forever.

My heart is full.

Write to Kathy at kcwriter99@yahoo.com or 2593 U.S.Highway 64 West, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.