Sometimes my job is fun.

Okay, my job is always fun..but some days simply stand out.

Today was one of those days.

I've found that,as I've gotten older , I've become more touched by; more fascinated by people's stories and their myriad life experiences. And, I've come to the conclusion that those are often the TRUE news stories, not simply police blotter material that can quickly force you to lose faith in humanity. I like to believe it's made me a better journalist.

When I moved to Cortlandt in the late 1980's, Hudson Valley Hospital Center was known as Peekskill Hospital--formerly Peekskill General. And, to put it mildly, it had a less-than-stellar reputation.

In the past 20 years, and certainly in the past 8 years, I've seen the hospital morph from a gawky teenager into a beautiful young adult. Today's grand opening of its new Patient Tower  brought out hundreds of county and community leaders, hospital employees, and ordinary  community members who found it hard to suppress their pride and excitement. That included Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino...and I have to admit, myself.

As I toured the stunning new facility with its private patient rooms and brilliantly designed no-practical-detail-left unturned architecture,I was taken aback by the relative silence on the second floor, despite the enormous number of people who were being given similar tours by the hospital's gracious employees.

Afterward I realized that the silence was really stunned silence, as folks took in the new changes; changes that embodied the hospital's brilliant new logo, "A Better Place to Get Better."

And suddenly, the possibility of illness and hospitalization was not so daunting after all.