I refer to myself as an “accidental” columnist. Writing a column was never part of my plan. For my first 17 years at the Northwest Herald, I worked nights writing headlines and designing newspaper pages.

Sure, I dabbled with writing album reviews and the occasional guest column when I had something I wanted to say, but I was happy doing what I was doing.

Then came some financially driven upheaval in the newsroom, and I found myself in a position that had daytime hours – and a weekly column.

My first column ran on page 2 of the Northwest Herald on May 7, 2008. In it, I introduced myself and provided my “local” credentials. I’m a McHenry County girl through and through and remain so.

That might be one of the only things that stayed the same over the past 18 years.

My nephew Zach was born the year I began writing the column and he’s graduating from high school. He first appeared in my column in 2009, when I related his dramatic birth the year before as a preemie. Today, he’s an accomplished volleyball player and plans to study business. (Insert proud aunt vibes here.)

No doubt his parents will miss him when he heads off to college. Likewise, I will miss writing this column.

In another full-circle moment, financially driven decisions are behind my saying goodbye to you today. I had to trim my part-time hours each week, and this was the most logical thing to go.

As sad as I am, I am also profoundly grateful that I’ve been able to speak directly to you readers over more than 900 columns. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. Some of you stuck with me even when my column was pulled from the print edition of the Northwest Herald about three years ago to be solely online.

I’ve met some wonderful people over the years, whether it was interviewing them or interacting via email when they had questions or wanted to share their own stories.

I’ve even managed to make a friend or two after someone wrote in with a complaint about something I wrote. I may not always agree with you, but I deeply respect your right to have your own opinion. And sometimes it’s just a matter of clearing up a misconception about where I’m coming from.

We’ve been through a lot together over these 18 years. We’ve seen our Chicago sports teams triumph, including the Cubs winning the World Series, the Chicago Blackhawks winning three Stanley Cups and the Chicago Sky winning the WNBA championship. I remain hopeful that the Chicago Bears are finally turning a corner. We even made it through the COVID-19 pandemic, which was one of the scariest things we’ve experienced.

At the Oliver homestead, you’ve seen my mother come to live with us, the struggle she had with dementia and then finally her death. You’ve been there when the unthinkable happened to my dear husband, Tony, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2015. And you’ve been on the journey with me through two battles with breast cancer.

All that sounds like a lot of gloom and doom, but if you’ve been around long enough, you realize that I maintain a positive attitude despite all the curveballs that life throws at me. That won’t change.

What will change is that I no longer will be sharing the journey with you each week. However, if you’re a caregiver who needs to vent or someone who is facing breast cancer or someone who’d like an update on Team Oliver, know that I’ll still be here to help. I’ll keep my column email (jolivercolumn@gmail.com) around just in case.

That’s always been my goal in writing: I just want to help. Sometimes it’s a matter of sharing information, sometimes it’s relating a story with the idea that there might be a tip you can use.

Then again, sometimes it’s a literary reference that I just must mention. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the last two lines of the poem “The Hollow Men” by my favorite poet, T.S. Eliot:

“This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.”

No, it’s not the world ending here; it’s just my column, which has been a piece of my heart each week and has meant the world to me.

Take care, dear readers. By now you know that I believe we’re all in this together.

Goodbyes are hard. However, I’ve had a great run.

Thank you for being along for the ride.

• Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.