I must be getting senile in my old age.

First, I lost my brand-new digital camera. And tonight I realized that yesterday marked the 12th anniversary of the day we flipped the switch and made OnMilwaukee.com live.

Whoops.

It makes sense, really, that we all worked through the day yesterday and today without remembering our own anniversary. Isn't there some old joke about remembering the color of your eyes, but not the date of the day we met (or something like that)?

I mean, over lunch today with my colleague Bobby Tanzilo, we talked about a night that we hung out 10 years ago. We've worked together that long, and even then, OnMilwaukee.com was already two years old. Other coworkers have been here for many years, too, and my business partner Jeff and I have been collaborating almost longer than I can remember.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm starting to forget what Milwaukee was like before OnMilwaukee.com. Not only has this organization been my passion since 1998 -- we technically started the business that spring - but it's been the one thing I've been doing longer than anything else in my life. I was 24 years old on Sept. 1, 1998. This was a time before Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Not only were we the only thing of our kind in town, there wasn't much like us anywhere. We didn't know what we were doing, but the optimism of youth and very modest lifestyles allowed us to take leaps that would be tough to pull off for us today.

Obviously, a ton has changed in media since that first, clunky version of the site I coded by hand. Even though old media still treats the Web like a companion piece (at its own peril), Internet advertising has surpassed just about everyone else in revenue, and social media is changing the game again.

Of course, they didn't have a name for social media when we first started telling everyone who listened -- and some who didn't -- that media was a conversation, not a sermon.

In previous years, I used this anniversary piece to thank my colleagues, business partners, investors, advertisers and readers, but since I'm a day late, I'll spare you a lengthy tribute. Of course, all that is true, and we wouldn't be here without all of you.

What I'm most proud of this year, though, is how hard we all continue to work. We weathered a media recession without a layoff, furlough or cut in benefits. While we strive to stay relevant and find ways to deliver new content, we've built a brand-new version of OnMilwaukee.com, further embraced social media in a way that actually monetizes it, and have seen our traffic grow by more than 20 percent in the last 12 months. That takes an awful lot of concerted effort by an amazing group of people, all who love Milwaukee and our mission to make great media.

So thanks. And I'm sorry I forgot -- albeit briefly -- our anniversary. As I say every year, and I hope you continue to believe, the best is yet to come. Milwaukee continues its march forward. I'm honored to have spent the last 12 years alongside you, working in the city that I love and am so proud to call my home.