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One of Mackenzie Chester’s bountiful children bounced passed him, clutching a sticky, dirty hand onto his clean shirt while nearly knocking a camera out of his grip. It looked like a collision, but the editor of The Northeast Georgian made it look like a kinship. He tousled the kid’s red hair with a chuckle and swiped at the stain left on his shirt while reaching out his hand to shake mine. “They got a lotta kids,” I said. To which he responded, “Then they got a lotta love too.”
That was the first time I ever met Matthew Osborne. And he made a lasting impression.
He was quiet. Professional. Kind-hearted. Quick-witted. A quintessential reporter-type with wire-rimmed glasses, a notebook, and pocket full of questions.
He was there to cover the surprise unveiling of a widespread community outreach project. I apologized for the chaos of children abounding and people frolicking. The Everyday Good had just completed a basement renovation for this growing family. He pulled out his pen and pad and scribbled out words and quotes. I explained how this struggling family was in crisis mode. How they had run out of beds, rooms, space, and time. “They've run out of everything,” I said. Matthew paused, glanced around the room at community workers who had joined together for the common good of another and said, “Well, it looks like they didn’t run out of friends.”
And with that he stood, closed his pad, tucked it into the stained shirt, and joined the celebration.
Mckenzie’s dad led a prayer inside that new basement as the walls wrapped around us like a warm blanket on that cold January day. Sixty volunteers of construction workers, painters, plumbers, teachers, preachers, lawyers, bankers, and friends held hands with eyes closed.
Our reporter stood in the corner. I looked around the room to see what Matthew saw: A miracle made possible because of hope, faith, love….and friends.
He published our story in The Northeast Georgian the next week and titled it, “Refresh for the Soul.” And that’s exactly what his words offered on numerous occasions to our hometown as he rarely missed an event or project. Matthew knew the secret to good journalism: It’s never about the writer, it’s always about the story.
Anyone can write a good story, but it takes a special person to recognize the good in a story. And this was Matthew’s gift. He was able to perfectly, seamlessly articulate people, places, things, thoughts, feelings, and ideas into written words and meaningful narratives for the rest of us. He engaged us. Enlightened us. Inspired us. Informed us. He helped us to be better. And those are the things I’ll remember most about our friend who connected a whole community through his work and gifts.
At the end of our lives we will be known for who we were, rather than what we did.
Matthew Osborne hand wrote a beautiful legacy for his three precious boys and beautiful wife. And for this community too. He will be so missed.
Dear Matthew, it was always you who made the story good.
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