I'm getting to know some amazing reporters — one especially.

On my first day, I sat down and this owly looking woman with a robotic voice leaned over from her computer and said, "Hi I'm Pohla Smith. I'm excited to be working with you this summer."

I guess it doesn't sound that funny unless you know her.

Pohla writes for features. Most of her stuff is fluff about allergies in the summer, a festival that's going on, things like that. I thought she was just some old lady (she's 62) that liked quilts and wanted to write about them.

Pohla is very bad with computers. I have to help her turn her computer on, plug in a phone charger, open a new tab to check her email, all of those kinds of things. She asked lots of people for help and I never knew why they were so weirdly helpful and never talked about how needy she seemed. I soon found out why.

She also says some hilarious things on the phone. She just mixes her words up. She once answered the phone and said, "Hi, this is the Pittsburgh Pirates" (instead of the Post-Gazette). We all laughed quietly so she wouldn't hear.

But that was before we realized that she had had an accident.

A few years ago, Pohla slipped and fell and hit her head. She was in hospitals for a year and wasn't able to speak. She had to relearn speech and how to do other basic tasks.

Pohla wasn't always a features writer. She used to be a sports writer. In fact, she was one of the first female writers to go into the men's locker room. She knew Willie Stargell! She said he wasn't as nice as everyone said he was, which I think is awesome.

She also covered SIX Olympics, taught at Pitt and wrote three books about sports.

This week, they asked her to retire. She gave a speech today and it was so touching that I welled up.

It's just sad seeing that woman, speaking slowly and struggling with her mouse across from me, and knowing she was once a diamond of a reporter. I can still see the fire in her, though. At the same time, I'm weirdly inspired by her perseverance.

Here's a picture. She's in the green, and I'm the only guy. We got her a card.