Remember when social media first dropped? Poorly lit pictures of lunch. A flower. Funny tweets. Nothing like today’s dumpster fire of FOMO influencer culture and AI slop with a sidecar of political trauma.  A few (elder millennial) friends and I were talking recently about how we use our pers onal social media these days and agreed: it’s less of a flex, more of a diary or journal. Sometimes I will go back through my internet archive just to keep myself accountable or as a reminder — what was I doing last year? Have I kept up with myself? Am I spending my time well? I did that recently, on a day where I was feeling behind the eight ball. (Highly recommended if, like me, you have a subpar short-term memory and the highest standards for yourself.) Many of us would likely agree it’s been a massive year of change on all levels. Personally, professionally, nationally.  The most important changes on my end, personally, have been happy ones: a brother getting married, another brother welcoming his third child, a sister having her first. In a real plot twist, the brother who just got married also found out he’ll be a dad in 2026 (making me an aunt eight times)!  Life continues. And I feel increasingly grateful to bear witness to the joys, big and small. When I am tempted to count down the moments until a workday or a workout or an obligation is done so I can move to the next thing, I try to take a breath and remind myself, “Time is all we have. Be here. You want to remember this.” During a celebration of philanthropy for the Rochester Area Community Foundation last month, RACF CEO Simeon Banister shared a story about one of Rochester’s greatest documenters, Frederick Douglass. As an abolitionist and social reformer, Douglass was often targeted for his beliefs, and he lost work in fires and through fleeing dangerous situations. And he kept on going. In addition to his books, Douglass published several abolitionist newspapers. His first, “The North Star,” was produced in 1847, from the basement of the Memorial AME Zion Church right here in Rochester. While Douglass wasn’t a native, we call him our own and this became his final resting place — his second wife was from Honeoye; he’s buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. As a changemaker and orator, Douglass understood the power of words. Documentation. Bearing witness.  In 2025, it felt as though journalism was more threatened — and more important — than ever. (Wild, considering how high the stakes were already.) Especially as funding dries up for smaller, local publications, we are so fortunate at CITY to have a supportive readership and foundational parent organization in WXXI. To have the opportunity to continue printing words and images about our community, to see the magazines in coffee shops and grocery stores and in the hands of your children and on your kitchen tables, is the greatest gift.  And we truly couldn’t do it without you.  As I closed my editor’s letter in December 2024: “Every bit of journalism we produce at CITY can be read, viewed, shared and talked about in your worlds. If the work we do matters to you, please let people know. Or, if you can, become a CITY Champion and support local journalism each month! Take out an ad! Sign up for our newsletter! Local news, from breaking and investigative to arts and culture, makes a direct impact on the people and businesses you know and love. (Just like the ol’ Bailey Brothers Building Loan.)” I’ll revive that paragraph from the archive every year. Let’s keep telling stories, bearing witness and recording history together. Thank you for trusting us to be keepers of culture.  (Look for the red box.) Here’s to 2026. The post Editor’s Letter | I want to remember this appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture.. ...read more read less