As many of you know, and I have written in columns many times, that I was born in Alabama. I grew up in Alabama and consider myself lucky to earn a living in the industry I love in the state I have called home.

What some of you may not know is that I am the son of two high school teachers, both taught English, while my mother also taught history.

Throughout my life I was exposed to interesting discussions about grammar, many of which I obviously ignored, but I was also exposed to a great love of history and humanities.

This is my third stint at The Selma Times-Journal, the first working as sports editor beginning in August 1998 and to this day, I still remember the feeling I had when I came to work the very first day.

It was not the butterflies of starting a new job, meeting new people or living in a new area, it honestly was the chill bumps I had when looking out the window just over my desk.

Those who live in Selma know the Times-Journal building sits at the foot of the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge at the intersection of Water Avenue and Broad Street. And, the position of the sports editor’s desk at the time was positioned at the far rear of the room. It just so happened that my desk looked directly out onto the bridge.

You see, for me, the bridge was not something I drove over every day. It wasn’t something that simply got me from downtown Selma to Selmont. To me, it was, it is, history.

In school, we learned about the civil rights struggle, we saw the footage of Bloody Sunday, we saw photos in history books of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the newspaper, though, that history, that bridge, was right outside my window.

My first Bridge Crossing Jubilee was extremely memorable as I joined others from the newspaper in covering the events. I even got to walk across the bridge myself, walking with the likes of U.S. Rep. John Lewis and Jesse Jackson.

And, I was here the year President Bill Clinton took part in the 35th anniversary.

Now, that I am back, I again get to look out on a historic icon and this Sunday, I get the chance to join thousands of others in re-enacting a moment that made all of our lives so much better.