On March 12, 1997, I wrote the first of “A Penny For My Thoughts” about my father. When I wrote it, I was hoping that the column would continue for a while – and now, eight years, two months and six days later – I am writing my 800th entry in a journal I never thought I would write.

When I began writing in 1994, I wrote only unbiased news articles that had to do with the top stories of the time, despite the fact that I never took a single writing or journalism course. Yet, regardless of that fact – I have built a career in a field I never once studied in school or obtained a degree in. In all reality, the only writing experience I have is my love for putting pen to paper and my desire to get published. And yet, for close to a decade, I have written over a thousand different musings on every subject imaginable – but this column is truly what I am most proud of.

Published in several different newspapers and enjoyed by many, I have documented my thoughts from the time I was twenty-five to today – and I never plan to stop. Inadvertently, I have created a living diary of my existence, immortalizing so many moments of my life, whether they were good, bad and indifferent. I have published an archive of the last eight years of my life that I or anyone else can read anytime they want. I remember when I was much younger, I had a desire to record each and every moment of my life, whether they were happy or sad – and thanks to this column – I have.

On January 3, 2003, I wrote my 526th column, and did not write the next one until August 20th of that same year. After taking such a long break from putting my thoughts to paper, I made a personal decision to restart the column from number one. But technically, this column is the 274th of its second phase, which if added to the 526 I wrote before – totals 800. In 1997, I never thought that the column would follow me throughout my life, much less reach 800 – but I did – and I am very excited about that.

There have been many things that have inspired me to add another entry to my public and accidental journal. From life’s idiosyncrasies, to my own personal situations – to my feelings on certain topics that either cross my desk or make the news – this world that we live in always supplies me with something to write about. In fact, there are many times when something captures the nation’s attention and my friends tell me that they can’t wait to hear my column about it. I am very grateful that what I write is read and appreciated by others. While I write my columns because I love to write – having people enjoy them makes it all more worthwhile.

While I have taken occasional breaks from writing this column and no doubt probably will again, I will make sure that I continue to write it for the rest of my life. Writing these columns is one of my favorite things to do, and as long as my fingers can type on my keyboard, as long as thoughts still creep into my head – and as long as the world keeps giving me something to write about – “A Penny For My Thoughts” will live as long as I do.