We were verging on going paperless at our house. Our Star Tribune subscription ran out, and we dawdled about renewing it.

You have to understand how surprising that was. I’m 51 (today! thankyewverymuch), and I started reading the Minneapolis Tribune in Fergus Falls when I was 6 years old. You could get it delivered every day back then, 200 miles from Minneapolis.

Paisley (R), youthful savior of the Star Tribune.

My wife and I both spent more than 20 years in the newspaper business, including almost five years at the Star Tribune for both of us. So for us to consider forgoing daily newspaper delivery was really an astonishing development. We hadn’t actually decided to quit getting the paper, but we were willing to do without it for awhile and kind of see how nature took its course.

Well, nature stepped up quickly in the form of our 9-year-old daughter, Paisley. She reads the comics every day and especially loves the Sunday funnies. She noticed right away that the paper wasn’t coming, and started badgering us. Still we delayed.

Finally, after about a week, she said, “We have to get the Star Tribune! That beautiful crackle of paper in the living room is like music to my ears!”

I sent in my renewal that day. The Strib showed up again on my doorstep yesterday.