Ashlie Hardway: A New Year Brings Promise And Poignancy

By Ashlie Hardway, ABC 7 anchor and reporter

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I’m another year older.

January 8th was my 22nd birthday, and I must say, I’ve learned a lot in the past year.

A year ago I was working in Laredo. I was newly married, newly employed with a “real job” and still trying to figure it all out. I had only been with career for six months when I turned 21 years old. Moving away from home and starting a job is hard for anyone, let alone a 20-year-old kid moving across the country for her first gig out of college.

I made it, God willing. Here I am a year later, in a much better city, with a MUCH better job. Everything I went through in the past year was worth it; the uncertainty, the hardships and the questions. You know, when you’re going through a rough patch, it seems as though it will never end. But it does.

It helps to have a strong support group of friends, too. I had a little party the night of my birthday, and I was very happy to see who turned out. It’s moments like that that really help you realize who your true friends are. People I didn’t expect to see showed up, and those who I considered really good friends were nowhere to be found. It’s funny how little events like that can put things into perspective for you.

I work with some amazing people. Not only are a lot of my co-workers incredibly talented at work, but they are great people to know personally. We recently lost our 6:00 producer, Andy Cohen, to a station in Albuquerque. It’s a great opportunity for him to learn and grow, but I sure am going to miss him around the newsroom. He produced the five for a while, and recently moved to the six before finishing out his job here. If you liked watching ABC 7 at 6 recently, you have Andy to thank.

He is a great friend, too. He helped me with rides to the airport and was always willing to go out on the town when I was looking to go out (when my husband couldn’t make it, of course). It’s rare that you find honest, genuine people in this world; and as happy as I am that Albuquerque will gain someone like that, I’m sad El Paso had to lose someone like that.

I guess the most valuable lesson I’ve learned in the past year is to cherish people that you have in your life. You never know when you may lose them. Typically with the good ones, you lose them much sooner than you think.