LETTER | Saturday morning ritual will never be the same

It’s with a heavy heart that I must bid adieu to my Saturday early morning companion.

Weekend Post has been my preferred Saturday morning read for 30 years ... delivered to my door, come rain or shine.

My dogs over the years (Thamel my Golden Retriever, and now Lucy my Border Collie) would run out to fetch it and bring it to me while I made my coffee and toast.

Then it would be back to bed to read Weekend Post, while eating my toast and sipping on my coffee, my household still fast asleep.

On Saturdays, I can take my time reading the morning paper. It’s the start of the Weekend!

This early morning period of 5.15 to 6.30am was my “quiet time”, my “me-time”... a routine inherited from my late dad who did the same (just a bit earlier, 4.30 to 5.30am).

Yes, we have social media and online newspapers now, but they are NOT the same as holding a newspaper in your hands.

My Saturday morning ritual (I thought sadly of this as I went out to collect the paper last Satuday) is going to be forever changed.

My dog will run out excitedly and there will be nothing there. She will be confused, searching around the garden for Weekend Post.

I’ll try to explain to her, but I don’t speak Border Collie, and as intelligent as she is, she doesn’t speak English either, so we will look at each other miserably as we come to terms with the demise of Weekend Post.

Shock and denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance ... in about three months we should be feeling better ... but 30 years is a long relationship to overcome.

Weekend Post, gone but not forgotten, RIP.

• Greg Smith, PhD counselling psychologist and executive coach

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