"Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave. And I firmly believe that when I am positive, it not only makes me better, but it also makes those around me better.”
— Harvey Mackay
It has been my pleasure for the last 13 years to work as an anchor and reporter at WBZ Radio, alongside some wonderful and very talented people. Among the most impressive of them, a three-decade veteran of ‘BZ by the name of Lana Jones.
When Lana passed away very suddenly last Wednesday, the tributes came in from across Massachusetts, from the Governor and various lawmakers, to a host of first responder agencies, to the listeners who over many years had come to depend on Lana to help them understand the events and developments that changed the world around them.
However, the most profound tribute—the one that struck a chord with me that has been thrumming in my heart since I heard it, came from a fellow ‘BZ reporter. Lana, he said, had a gift for always finding the good in people. That’s a very hard thing for anyone to do, but especially for one whose job many times brings them face to face with some of the most horrible things that people do to each other. Lana was a veteran of many crime scenes and many trials. She covered politics at a time when many politicians work hard to point out the worst in each other and in the “other side.” And yet she did indeed, as her legacy shows, make an effort to remind us that there is more to bring us together in the world than there is to keep us apart, and that the shadows that so many people choose to fixate on only exist because of the light that exists in others.
In her passing, Lana sadly reminded us of another fact: our time here can indeed draw to a close at any time, and without any warning. And while I have no idea when my time in this world will end, I do know that the world I live in until then is one of my choosing. Lana lived in a better world because she chose to see a better world, and in sharing what she saw made the world a better place those around her. What a gift to leave behind.