On my last day at The Democrat, a good friend told me what a former Democrat publisher once said about our community.

He&8217;d lived in cities all over the world and heard people tell him, &8220;This place is different.&8221;

But in the case of Natchez, he said, it was true.

And it is, in all the best ways &8212; and that&8217;s what makes us all want to strive for even better. Because even at its most frustrating, Natchez has more potential than any place I&8217;ve ever lived.

Two weeks ago we published a Sunday story about the optimism that seems to have been buoying the Miss-Lou in recent months.

With projects on the horizon that look promising &8212; including the Rentech fuel manufacturing plant and two new hotels &8212; Natchez has so many opportunities to change its fortunes, as long as we continue to work together.

I shouldn&8217;t be surprised.

My tenure as editor in Natchez was marked by great change in this community. We saw the largest employer shut its doors, leaving 600 International Paper workers without jobs. We elected our first black mayor since Reconstruction. We saw a massive storm on the coast turn Natchez into a haven for hurricane evacuees whom we still count as neighbors.

But those events are just part of a long cycle of change for the Miss-Lou. For all those who think Natchez is still in the past, consider all that has happened just in the past few years, the good and the bad.

As for me, I will remember the good. I will remember the kindness of friends and strangers alike who wave when they see you on the street. I will remember the hard work of good friends on the United Way and chamber of commerce boards.

I will remember the hard work of all of the good people who work at The Democrat. They are passionate about this community and about creating a good newspaper every day, and they remember that building good teamwork is more important than individual team members.

Our readers &8212; my neighbors and friends &8212; made this suburban girl feel at home in a small community, and you later welcomed my husband when we were married last year.

My family from Memphis adopted Natchez as a second home; they were as charmed by the hospitality and graciousness as any of our tourists. This is a community I will always love. And The Democrat is a newspaper I will always love. But community journalists know that the newspapers we staff are not our own; they belong to the community.

In exchange, you ask us to be a watchdog when government overreaches; to be a peacemaker when opposite sides can&8217;t agree; to be a cheerleader when the community needs to be picked up; to be a leader when no others can be found.

I&8217;ve tried to hold up my end of the bargain in my time here.

Along the way, I&8217;ve worked with talented people, won awards for our newspaper and won friendships among the people I covered. And I&8217;ve had so much fun and enjoyed my co-workers so much that nothing I did could be considered work. A community newspaper editor could ask for nothing more.

You&8217;ve allowed me to be a steward of your newspaper, and for that I will always be grateful.

I can&8217;t imagine not being in my office at The Democrat Monday morning &8212; but I promise I&8217;ll always have Natchez in my heart.

There&8217;s just something different &8212; something special &8212; about this community.

Kerry Whipple

Bean is editor of The Democrat but is leaving to take a job as publisher of The Brewton (Ala.) Standard. She now can be reached at

kerry.bean@brewtonstandard.com

.