Often in the course of producing community journalism – indeed, too often – it is impossible to linger on a story for much more than its allotted time, no matter the degree of its impact. Another story will soon take its place, as well another deadline and another edition. By its very nature, news is a transient presence, a continually growing dustbin of paragraphs, photos and commentary whose function is to be seen and replaced.

Given the job of producing a newspaper, our focus is intentionally myopic, focused purely on the current news story. Some stories we write, however, are not easily forgotten, because they're the ones that rattle in our sometimes hardened conscience. They're the stories that when they happen, remind us of why we entered journalism: To be given the gift of writing down incredible and inspiring moments. We've had the good fortune of writing many in 2014, and as a holiday gift to you, we share some of our favorite moments:

・E Nearly five years after her debilitating car accident, we saw Corey Beattie walk across the stage at Avon Grove High School's 2014 commencement in June and accept her diploma, in front of a standing ovation that shook the rafters of the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

・E Before a packed house at Archbishop Carroll High School in Wayne, we saw a valiant Oxford boys' basketball team fight against a much larger and more talented Roman Catholic High School team, before falling 48-38 in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA first-round playoffs.

• In the days after a kitchen fire severely damaged the historic Octoraro Hotel in Oxford in November, we saw an entire community come together to raise funds to assist employees of the restaurant.

• After a fire raged through the Chalfont House in Kennett Square in November, we saw a fundraising campaign begin to help the residents of the house who were displaced by the fire.

• We saw Kassidy England of Oxford High School spend nearly two years working on a project to collect the names of all the veterans who graduated from the high school. We were there during the display's opening, and the look on the faces of the many veterans who attended was priceless.

・E We saw the continuing evidence that Kacie's Cause has become one of the leading crusades in helping to educate students, parents and communities all over Chester County about the dangers of heroin use.

・E We introduced you to the magical work being done by Kennett Square resident Mary Cairns, who has selflessly volunteered to help orphans in India.