NATCHEZ &045;&045; Keith Dillon drives his truck 73 1/2 miles to work each day, leaving Natchez at 5 a.m. and not returning until 5 p.m.

And he considers himself one of the lucky ones.

Unlike many of the maintenance workers he knows from his days at International Paper’s Natchez mill, he has had a job since the mill closed July 31.

Not that there haven’t been rough times.

Having worked at IP for five years &045;&045; not counting 12 years before that, in construction at the mill with a different company &045;&045; he had many years invested in the mill when it closed.

&uot;It was really hard when they announced the (IP) closing. It was hard going to work each day knowing the shutdown was inevitable,&uot; Dillon said.

&uot;And it was a double hit for us.&uot;

Dillon was referring to the fact that his wife, Carol, was an employee at Natchez’s Johns Manville plant before it shut down in fall 2002.

&uot;She would have had a chance to transfer to another location, but I had a great job at IP,&uot; Dillon said.

But she was able to find work in the area &045;&045; her current job is at Odom’s Optical.

Dillon was also able to find work with Pickett Industries from day one, helping move equipment from mill where he once worked.

Then a friend called him one night with a tip about a more permanent job available at Tembec, a paper mill located in St. Francisville, La.

&uot;That was in October or November. I didn’t think much about it until I went to the unemployment office the next month and heard Tembec was going to be hiring people from this area,&uot; Dillon said.

He interviewed and went to work for Tembec March 1, fresh from his job at Pickett.

Not that he didn’t have other job offers. Dillon had the chance to transfer to another IP mill on the East Coast.

He even traveled to an interview a full 11 hours from his Natchez home.

But then something happened to change his perspective.

&uot;My grandmother passed away, and it made me see things in a different light,&uot; Dillon said.

With his parents and Carol’s parents in Natchez, he reasoned, what would happen if they were to become ill?

&uot;My wife and kids would be back here and I’d be stuck on the East Coast,&uot; Dillon said.

So Dillon decided to keep himself and his family &045;&045; Carol and their two children, ages 4 and 16 &045;&045; in Natchez, their home.

Dillon doesn’t even mind the drive that much &045;&045; he commutes with a friend.

And he knows every morning he is lucky to have a job.

&uot;We are truly blessed,&uot; Dillon said.