Wow.

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this month’s total solar eclipse, but I knew it would be a show.

It was something more. Something emotional. Something incredible. Something awe-inspiring.

My good friend, who visited from Michigan, drove to southern Illinois seven years ago to see the Midwest’s most recent total solar eclipse.

He called me about six weeks ago and said that, if the cloud cover was trending the right way, he and his family would be visiting on the second Monday in April. If the cloud cover wasn’t in our favor, he’d drive as long as he needed to in order to see totality.

The experience was that much worth it in 2017, he said.

When the forecast began to crystallize Friday, we all got excited. Friends with my wife and I for nearly 20 years, we were all looking forward to meeting up and having our kids spend time together.

Then, on Saturday, a text message: “Mind if my brother comes?” Then another, “Is it OK if my dad and his girlfriend also come?”

My wife also was texted by a teacher friend from Michigan: “My friend and I are planning to go to Hocking Hills over the weekend and come to your house to watch the eclipse. Mind if we stop by? Also, my daughter and her two college friends want to come down from Detroit.”

The more the merrier.

We set up lawn chairs, ate snacks, and enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime event.

When totality hit, I was amazed by the way the darkness came in and out. How the street lights turned off. How I could see the igniter of a hot-air balloon in the distance.

My friend, Chris, unbeknownst to us, recorded our audio during those moments of totality. We listened to it before our company hit the road, back to the hustle and bustle of normal life.

Reactions ranged from the spiritual to the amazed.

“I see God,” one of the youngsters said.

Some people described in detail what they saw. Others gasped and let out a pseudo scream when totality hit. I just laughed, amazed to see something so awe-inspiring.

It was the most unique and most enjoyable of days, and it exceeded my expectation.

While we were in our backyard, teams of journalists were out documenting the day in the five markets I serve. In Sandusky, in Norwalk, in Fostoria, in Tiffin, in Findlay, our esteemed team was out on the streets, talking to some of the thousands of visitors who came into our area, taking their photos and telling their stories.

Photographer Erin Caldwell had her camera pointed to the sky, documenting a time lapse composite shot of the eclipse and the “money” shot, the “diamond ring” effect that happens right as the sun creeps over the moon in the moments after totality.

It was an incredible team effort.

Here is an email I wrote to our editorial staff after I got into work Tuesday morning and looked at the five editions:

“Forgive me for waxing poetic, but I swelled with pride when I looked at all of our papers, and considered our online coverage of the eclipse throughout the day yesterday.

“Moments like these are why I am so passionate about community news, newspapers and journalism. This is the best example I can think of for a talented team working as a group to put together something impactful.

“Great job all on your hustle and coverage. I hope you all will never forget being part of the team that covered this historic event.

“Let’s keep creating examples of leveraging our individual talent to create great collective content.”

The total solar eclipse was an interesting event. It was a shared experience, which is becoming a rarity in our world today. At the same time, everyone saw it through their own eyes, and considered it with their own unique perspective.

It was both an individual and collective moment.

I’m glad our staffs were once again there to document history. It’s one of the main tenets of what we do.

I hope our news organizations will still be doing this in 2099, when the next total solar eclipse envelops our area. And I hope my young daughters, who will be well into their 80s at that point, will be there to witness it another time.

Alpena native Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier in Findlay, Ohio, the Sandusky (Ohio) Register, The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin, Ohio, the Norwalk (Ohio) Reflector, and Review Times in Fostoria, Ohio. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com.