From the editor- Fate | Canterbury Opinion | Local Voices from Canterbury, New Zealand

Fate. The Oxford dictionary describes it as the development of events outside a person's control.

When the quake struck on February 22, there was no time to escape falling masonry and bricks if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I was talking to one of my staff members yesterday about this.

She revealed she could have been working for CTV when the quake struck.

She had joined The Star midway through 2010 on a six month contract when I was seconded to one of our company's papers in Auckland, the Herald on Sunday.

Another young reporter had applied for a job at The Star while I was away, but there was nothing going and he ended up working at CTV. A young man with presumably a bright future ahead of him. He perished on February 22.

When December 2010 arrived the reporter on the temporary contract ha donly a few weeks to go. She began to look for other places to work.

But out of the blue a Star staffer left - hired by the Herald on Sunday - leaving a vacancy in Christchurch.

the reporter on the temporary contratc had made an impact, and was offered a permanent job.. She took it.

A few weeks later, CTV called her - there was vacancy there. But she decided to stay at the Star.

In late 2010, The Star was looking for a new home. Our building in Tuam St was too big for us and most of it was unused. It cost too much to heat in winter.

The general manager and operations manager began looking for new offices. One they looked at was a floor in the CTV building. It suited our purposes perfectly. It was central and relatively modern.

But the operations manager was worried about the cracks he saw in the building and recommended strongly against moving there. The general manager took his advice.

In little under two weeks there is the memorial for those who died on February 22.

I reckon the city should turn out in force.