It was a busy weekend of packing up my families belongings prepping for the big move to our little house in a week. I started out with grand visions of tossing almost everything away, and needing but a little tiny pickup truck to move our beds. Ok, I lie. I never expected to toss that much stuff, but I’m keeping more than I wanted.
Here’s an example. I have a huge plastic bin full of pictures, and that doesn’t count pictures that I have put into scrap books, etc….these are just sacks full of old pictures from when I was a kid, or whatever, and frankly, I didn’t even have the strength to go through them. That’s gonna take a large amount of booze and a good chunk of time to tackle, and this was not the weekend to do it.
The keepsakes from my TV days were hilarious, but I trashed them all. I had an e-mail from my old co-anchor Bob Donley, that outlined everything he’d change about the KSN newsroom. Apparently someone must have read that memo, but instead of making those changes, changed him instead. It was a good read, but it’s behind me so I tossed it.
I found a diary of when I was in high school and Dale Haukup asked me to Prom. I’m keeping that for further reading, to see what other school girl crushes I can uncover.
The toughest part of all of it though was the bags of letters and cards I got when my Mom died. I planned on tossing them all, except the one from Leon Liebl, which I will keep forever, it’s the only time he told me he loved me, and I plan to blackmail him with it later. 
Anyway, as I unzipped one bag of cards, out fell pictures of every bouquet sent to my family during the funeral. I couldn’t part with it, so nine years later, I’m keeping all those pictures of the flowers and every card I received. It wasn’t so much that it connected me to the people who sent them, I think it’s that it connected me to the Mom I still miss so much, and if that’s all I have left of her, than it least it’s something, and nine years later, I’m not ready to let it go, and you know I don’t know if I ever will be. I’m Anita Cochran, and that’s what I really wanted to say.
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I couldn’t believe it, my brother called today and said, “Hey, I hear Leon Liebl isn’t on TV in Kansas City anymore.”
I about spit my drink out because, the once up on everything Anita Cochran, hadn’t heard that he’d been part of cutbacks at KSHB in Kansas City. For those of you who say, hummmm, that Leon Liebl name sounds familiar. That’s because for five of the years you watched me on KSN-TV doing the weekend news, Leon was sitting beside me reading sports, sometimes throwing pens, and always making me laugh. Love the guy, like the little brother I never wanted.
I love to tell the story of sitting in Hays, Kansas working my tail off as a cub reporter, anchor, producer, the list goes on and on and on. Somedays working 12 hour days with all that heavy equipment, thinking this is insane!! The only thing that kept me going was at least I wasn’t Leon Liebl, doing the same sad thing in Garden City. Then I’d chuckle.
The funny thing is when KSN finally called to bring me home, they didn’t really mean Wichita. They wanted me to move to GARDEN CITY so LEON LIEBL could move to Wichita. I took the gig and fell in love with southwest Kansas, and Leon Liebl. I still consider it home, but then again, all of Kansas fells like my home.
Eventually I replaced Leon as anchor of the morning show, before we finally were paired together on weekends. We have much in common, and Leon I keep the letter you wrote me when Mom died. I always will.
So anyway, this is just to say, Leon I’m looking for you, and heard you’re taking some time to decide your next move, Congratulations. May your new life, be every bit as spectacular as mine, and should we need to, I will be more than happy to work beside you once again. I’m Anita Cochran, and that’s what I really wanted to say.
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