When Betty Wilson leaves the Westlake Picayune office on Dec. 31 for the last time in her capacity as advertising director, we hope her retirement will not end what she has done for this newspaper. Our challenge will be to live up to her high standards and expectations for the Picayune. Speaking on behalf of this staff and former staff members, we are certainly better people for having the pleasure of her company, and we know that many other members of this community feel likewise.

Unfortunately, if we had invited the community at large to her retirement party, it would have been impossible to handle the large number of people who were certain to attend. We made an attempt to contact and invite all recent staff members to the event, and almost all said they would attend. That was an indication of what we could expect had we expanded the scope. But there is still time to wish her the happy retirement that she so richly deserves by calling her at 327-2990, sending an e-mail to bwilson@westlake-picayune.com or by dropping by the office at 3103 Bee Cave Road, Suite 102.

It is tempting for those of us who have relied so heavily on Betty to ask her to change her mind about retirement. After all, she is a vibrant, healthy person whose positive attitude is contagious. However, while difficult, we feel the best thing to do is try to trust her judgment about this and accentuate the positive aspects of retirement. The clincher for the staff coming to this conclusion was her dogmatic tone in telling us that she is leaving because “It’s time.”

Fortunately, the decision to retire was entirely her own – just as every career move she made since joining the staff as a receptionist in August 1979 and quickly making the transition to staff writer. She has performed just about every job here in some capacity since day one and had a positive impact on everyone lucky enough to count her as a business associate, staff member or, better yet, friend. We’ll miss her.