To the Editor:

From the time I could remember, that smell was in the air.

To the ones living under the stench, it’s hardly a bother or care.

“That’s the smell of money,” I have always been told.

Pigs must have flown today or hell must really be cold.

You’d think anyone who got a job there, would surely be a lifer.

But as many have found out, that wasn’t for them to decipher.

My dad worked at the mill for 34 very long years.

The many hours spent there were filled with blood, sweat and tears.

It’s a lifestyle around here. It’s all some of us have ever known.

It’s funny how the little town around this mill has grown.

From truck drivers to the maintenance workers, this news affects us greatly.

Have you heard about the economy and what the world is going through lately?

The so-called merger was the first of scares for many.

What man will do here and there just to save a penny.

It’s been different for awhile, I’m sure everyone has seen.

The changes have been minimal, few and far between.

My respect and appreciation goes out to all of those

Who have worked hard most of their lives only to see the mill close.

Jamie Lynn Edwards Landry

Emporia