A city council reporter once told an eager group of young reporters at the Houston Chronicle – I among them—that sources can quickly become friends.
These people, he said, are the people you see every day. They become your co-workers, he said. You will at times have drinks with them, go to their houses and spend time with their families.
Skeptically and naïvely, I asked him, “Where is the line between friendship and work duties? Shouldn’t the two be separate?”
He said simply that we should remember our responsibilities but that we should never break trust between our friendships.
In a small place like Kauai, I appreciate all the friendships I’ve made here.
All the attorneys, cops, clerks, reporters, victims and their families, defendants and their families, community leaders/members and friends of friends.
I take each of my friendships seriously and personally. I try to treat everyone kindly, fairly and with respect. You get what you give.
“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make,” Paul McCartney once sang.
Maybe I sound like a childish naïve high school girl, but the reality is that after my huge fallout with my family last year, friendships are all I have.
My sister said I need to make my own family and I’ve been doing that ever since.
I try not to take friends for granted, but I’ll admit, I do make mistakes and sometimes people get hurt in the process. It sucks.
The last two weeks have been especially hard after I had surgery at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
Doctors removed cysts from my abdomen and I still had a pool of blood next to one of my ovaries a week after the surgery, which caused a lot of pain on my left side.
It meant I was out of work for two weeks.
Several attorneys, some officers and other friends texted or called me to check up on me.
My sister asked how I was doing. My sister-in-law checked in on me. My mom texted me a photo.
It was nice to hear from everyone.
Several attorneys mentioned that they missed me in court. I missed court.
And I don’t mean I just missed being there, I missed all the sentencings/proceedings, even if minor. Those stories should have been told.
I even missed Judge V. And his quips.
But I heard about mostly everything that happened in court through none other than my friends. Words travel fast on this island, all via the coconut wireless.
Another loss for the prosecuting attorney, but sources said the alleged victim didn’t do too well under cross. Tsk.
Judge V has some interesting ideas about negligent homicide and negligent injury lately that could prove insightful for an upcoming trial.
Some well-known folks have passed. I did some reading on 98-year-old Jean Elizabeth Holmes, the former editor of the Garden Island, and it turns out, the woman was a legend. Exemplary. I would have loved to have had a chance to speak to her. Or have her edit one of my articles. Just get some advice from her. She died on May 25 at the Gettysburg Hospital, according to the Gettysburg Times.
I’m glad I still have a chance to work with living legend Dennis Fujimoto.
But other than that, I’ve been temporarily barred from attending police events due to circumstances surrounding a blood draw article I recently wrote.
As the cops and courts reporter, where does that leave me?
