My latest story (click here) took me to Macon, Missouri, a town I had never heard of prior, to cover a presentation at the Historical Society. In 1935, a plane crashed near Macon and made national headlines as a U.S. Senator was involved. People came from all over to see the damage and send condolences to those involved in the wreck. Now, a researcher is studying the crash and piecing together the history.

Coming from northern Illinois, rural Missouri is an unknown for me. But, this job has taught me that journalism can take you just about anywhere. Story ideas can come from any pocket of social media, press release, you name it, and you have to be open about where you go, who you talk to, and what you cover.

Driving an hour north of Columbia to Macon, I was greeting by the most welcoming guests at the Historical Society who were eager to share their stories with me regarding their town’s history and the plane crash.

One woman struck me most as not only an interesting character for my story but as a person. 96-year-old Edith Harrington is the last known living person to be at the scene of the 1935 crash. Describing her memories of the victims, picking up the debris, and more, she told me that seeing those victims at the crash was what made her want to become a nurse. And that she did. She went on to attend MU and was the only one from her class and only one from Macon County to be a cadet nurse at Winter General Hospital in Topeka, Kansas, during World War II. She teared up as she told me her story and I loved seeing how proud she felt.

This story was another reminder of why I love storytelling and why I do what I do.