I’m not usually the type of person who remembers important dates and events, which is why I’m thankful for the On This Day feature on Facebook.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been bombarded with statuses and updates that helped me remember that yesterday, March 31, marked the two-year anniversary of me serving as managing editor for Gulf Coast Media.

Coming from a 28-year stint in Opelika, the crown jewel of Lee County, I didn’t really know what to expect from y’all down here in Baldwin County.

Your four-person county commission and its tie votes confused me.

Your myriad network of county and state roads crisscrossing a land mass the size of the state of Rhode Island was baffling, even with the nice hand-drawn map I was given by our former People editor, Jill Clair Gentry.

I was certainly hesitant of taking a job here, not sure whether I could make it in this strange, new world.

Well, darn if y’all didn’t win me over.

One of the first events I covered was the Wild Game Cookoff up in Stockton, where I was made to enjoy “fat coon barbeque,” as well as a few other choice items. Once you’ve eaten raccoon, it changes a man. You can never come back from that.

I survived the April 2014 “Rain Event,” or whatever the heck we’re supposed to call that hurricane-level flood, and went out with our staff to get photos of the damage in the aftermath.

I’ve run the gamut on event coverage, with everything from bikini bull riding competitions to Easter parades at Durant Chapel Baptist Church.

Name a regular public meeting – I’ve probably covered it, from Bay Minette all the way down to Orange Beach.

I’ve seen police have to escort out council members in Elberta, shared sidelong glances with city officials in Spanish Fort and even was asked to pray in a Baldwin County Commission meeting (an honor normally reserved for more legitimate members of the clergy than yours truly).

I have the honor of working with an amazing staff of weird but dedicated journalists, people who genuinely care about making sure all of you get access to the stories and information you need to know.

(And getting to meet up with John Mullen at whatever bar he’s made the Islander office for the day is always my favorite staff meeting.)

Moving down here also put me back into contact with a woman I’ve known for several years and am now blessed to call my girlfriend. I appreciate her vast reserves of patience that are required to date an idiot like me, and I’ll be sure to buy her something nice as a penance for mentioning her in a column without her express written or verbal consent.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for when I came here to Baldwin County, but what I’ve found is a place and a people that have made an indelible mark on my life.

For the longest time, I always resisted taking ownership of living here, referring to Baldwiners as “you people” and still talking about things Opelika was doing as “we.”

As I renewed my car tag a few weeks ago, I opted for the tag that would have the “5” designating a Baldwin County resident to be affixed to my vehicle.

I say “we” when talking about Baldwin County issues. After having to sit through several four-hour Baldwin County Board of Education meetings, I dare say I’ve earned that right.

Folks, I thank you all for your kindness, your generosity and your continued tolerance in putting up with me.

And I have no doubt you’ll see me out and about at some function or event, likely with a bourbon on the rocks in hand.

Here’s cheers, Baldwin.

Thanks for two wonderful years and whatever more we have to come.

Cliff McCollum is managing editor of Gulf Coast Media. He can be reached at cliff@gulfcoastmedia.com.