Tommy Tomlinson

In the spring of 1989, I came to Charlotte to interview for a job at the Observer. I’m 48 now. I started with the Observer 23 years ago. I’ve spent nearly half my life working for this newspaper. It feels strange to say goodbye.

Video of Tomlinson's farewell message to his co-workers at the Observer.

I’ve got one week left at the paper. The vote on Amendment One is May 8, a few days after I’m gone. So let’s take a minute to talk about it now.

In the arena, you could almost forget.

One day in 1971, at Reflection Studios on Central Avenue, Mickey Walker laid down the beat. He was the drummer for a Charlotte band called the Backyard Heavies. They had a single coming out called “Soul Junction,” and they needed something for the flip side. They came up with an instrumental based on a piano groove and a drum lick that Walker calls “a funky march.” They called it “Expo 83.”

Our church doesn’t have a sunrise service. Our household, by schedule and by nature, is geared toward the night. The snooze alarm is a temptress, promising nine more minutes of bliss. But I’ll try to get up early Easter morning. Not for the sunrise. For the quiet.

Two old farm boys died Wednesday. Earl Scruggs was 88 and he played the banjo. Harry Crews was 76 and he wrote books. Both of them meant a lot to this Southern boy.

They were using every flat surface at the 7-Eleven down on South Tryon near Arrowood Road. Filling in bubbles with stubby Putt-Putt pencils. Dreaming of half a billion dollars.

Elsie Garner, president of WTVI, apologizes for not shaking hands. She’s sick. Some kind of bug going around. Several folks at the station have the same thing.

I had lunch at the Olive Garden in Pineville on Friday. I hadn't been to an Olive Garden in almost 25 years. The Internet made me do it.