A SUDDEN avalanche of messages this week on my rarely used LinkedIn account came as a reminder to me that I embarked on a life-changing, and life-enhancing, new adventure two decades ago.

In July 2003, I officially started work with the Agricultural Trust, owners of The Irish Field, the Irish Farmers Journal and more, though it was late September when I had my name appear in an edition of the paper as the new editor. In spite of my relative longevity in this role, I am some way off the pace set by the late Valentine Lamb, who was well into three decades steering the ship.

It is hard to avoid clichés and soundbites when it comes to describing how it feels to have written an editorial, or comment piece, every week without fail since then. Many changes have taken place in the paper, my own life, the sports and business we cover in these pages, and in the world, some for good and others not so.

In spite of many changes, much remains the same. For the next fortnight I will be at my busiest, with Galway and the Dublin Horse Show following each other. While I will enjoy both as best I can, there is always the matter of writing the various columns I enjoy putting together each week. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

While much has changed in the world and my own universe, I was pleased while engaging in some navel-gazing to realise that the best aspect of the world in which I professionally operate is the people who inhabit it.

Whether going racing, or to events associated with it, the fact that so many great people are involved means the world to me, even if I do sometimes take this for granted.

Especially at difficult times, we come together as a community to support one another. The outpouring of sadness at the deaths this week of Tommy O’Neill and Harry de Bromhead shows the best in everyone, and that spirit is something that helps enormously when times get tough.

I could name events, horses and more that have captivated me during the past 20 years, and well before that time too, but what keeps me still so passionate about racing, breeding and equestrian sports is the people who make it all happen.

For now, I will leave you with a quote from Abraham Lincoln. “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”