When I heard about Southern Voice closing, like many people, I was devastated. I felt as if someone close to me had died; like a friend I loved but with whom I had lost touch. Even though I did not know much about what my friend had been doing or feeling in the past decade my feelings still ran deep and strong.
Like any loss it brought a period of grief and a flood of memories. People and events that had not crossed my mind in a very long time were suddenly at the forefront. I remembered good people, not bad ones; victories, not losses. It surprised me that those memories did not carry a hint of bitterness or regret.