Half Full: Mark Wilcox
It's Great to be Back

After nearly 10 years away, I returned to the Daily Mining Gazette in December, in the re-branded position of Community Editor. I’ve essentially have the same duties and responsibilities I had in my former position as Managing Editor, but the new name emphasizes our commitment to the people and places of the western Upper Peninsula — our community.
While I was anxious to re-learn and in many cases learn the nuts and bolts of this long-time mainstay of the Copper Country, I was even more anxious to resume my monthly column “Half Full.” It was one of the things I enjoyed the most in my previous iteration here, and one of the things I missed the most when I was gone. But despite how anxious I was, I thought it best to take some time, get to know the job, and the people before sharing my somewhat interesting view of life.
So its been a half a year and I’m ready. I’m back.
My column marks a new chapter in DMG history. As he wrote last week, Graham Jaehnig has concluded his more than 12-year journey of “Copper Country People and Places.” What a treat it has been to relive the history of copper mining in Graham’s skilled hands. Fear not, the weekly column is gone, but Graham is not. Graham joins me, staff writers Mary Stevens and Ben Garbacz and DMG contributor Paula Porter in a rotation of personal columns with a local slant. Nostalgia, life philosophy, history, the great outdoors and more will be addressed by our talented pool of columnists.
So I guess as captain of this team, so to speak, it’s my honor to lead this thing off.
First off, I’m keeping the name of the column, “Half Full” as it still represents the way I try to look at life. In that I try to look at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. That was not always the case. for the first 35+ years of my life, I was indeed a “the glass is half empty,” fella. Things began to change in 1996 when I met and married my wife Maryann, and embraced an instant family.
About seven months later, my life hit a road bump in the form of cancer. We didn’t see that coming.
While I never felt my life was over, the surgery, recovery and daily trips to Marquette for radiation were a challenge for me and my new family. The following spring, I accepted an invitation to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. I appeared on several radio and TV programs and gave a couple of interviews. One of the questions I, and probably most cancer survivors are asked, is “How has cancer changed you?”
The answer I give is “After having cancer … a flat tire is not that big of a deal.” You see, the things that used to drive me bonkers, flat tire, running out of gas, breaking a shoelace … aren’t really a big deal anymore. The glass is half full. To be honest, and not going into any details, that last 20 months or so have been a real challenge for me and my family. But despite the difficulties, we’re all still here, living and loving life … and each other. And the glass is certainly half full. I’m thrilled to be back and we’ll talk again next month.