When tragedy happens in our community, we all feel it. That includes those of us at the Gazette. We’re a part of the community in which the news we cover happens.

So, when we learned about a Thanksgiving accident that left one person injured, we, too, were hit with the mixed feelings of sadness that someone had been hurt, but glad that — last we heard — they were recovering.

And we, of course, were upset in recent weeks by the news of a little girl’s kidnapping, delighted to hear she had been found safely and — if we are honest — a bit righteous in learning her father and grandmother were being charged for taking her all the way to New Jersey.

Luckily, being part of the community, we are also gladdened and lifted by other stories we report.

We are proud, for example, of the Randolph-Henry High School Marching Statesmen band, which has a strong competition record, is being well- supported by boosters and has a growing fandom, including on Facebook.

And we can’t help but smile as we look over the pictures from the Drakes Branch Museum’s Old Fashioned Christmas (check out our front page with more photos inside) — they are just filled with so much fun.

Good or bad, or somewhere in between, life offers us a chance to experience and feel so many different aspects of the events here in Charlotte County. We feel all this with you because we’re a part of this great community, too.