Ryan Trares
A little more than a year ago, this journey started.
On Feb. 5, 2022, the Daily Journal of Franklin printed the first of what was envisioned as a regular weekly column. My editor at the time had approached me with the idea, as a way to have more local writers on our Opinion page.
He gave me free rein to write about whatever I wanted to — the only condition being, I had to have enough ideas to make it work every week without becoming stale.
As I wrote in the first column last year:
“But what to write about?
My free time involves a fairly diverse list of activities: running, taking in live music at local venues, reading Scandinavian murder mysteries, sampling the selections at the growing number of Indiana craft brewers.
Still, at the center of it all is my family: my wife, and my 6-year-old son, Anthony. Anything that I’d write about would gravitate around them. It seemed like I had an easy decision.”
And it was. Every Saturday since then, I’ve filtered our lives through the exploits of Anthony, bringing readers along with me. They’ve gone along as Anthony took his first solo trip down the sledding hill. They had a chance to hear about his first season of soccer, as well as my first foray into the ranks of coaching.
From the neverending stream of questions coming from Anthony’s mouth to his love of music to his burgeoning love for trying new things, I’ve tried to use this column as a window into the very unique personality of a little boy. Granted, this is just one 7-year-old child’s experience, but I hope that readers can find glimpses of their own children, or their own lives, to relate to.
It seems like they’ve had. I’ve worked for the Daily Journal for 15 years, and at newspapers overall for 21. Reader feedback, both good and bad, comes with the job. I love to hear what worked in a story, and though I may not love it, it’s important to hear from people what didn’t work, or even worse, what I got wrong. That’s how you learn.
Up to this point, I usually got a comment or two from people about a particular piece resonating with people. But the comments I’ve heard from readers about this column has blown them all away. People seem to connect with our adventures.
So I want to maintain that connection. The upcoming year promises some significant experiences for Anthony — year-two of soccer, swimming lessons planned for this spring, the end of first grade and the start of second.
Of course, the most fun are the occurances that materialize organically, those joys and challenges of the day-to-day life as a parent you can’t anticipate yet often mean the most.
My hope is for readers to keep finding entertainment in these weekly thoughts. I know I’ve found more than I imagined writing them.
Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist for the Daily Journal in Franklin. Send comments to [email protected].
