​A farewell and thank-you from Bob Schieffer

As I prepared for this last broadcast as moderator of "Face the Nation," I thought back to when I was in the ninth grade and saw my byline in the school newspaper and decided right then I wanted to be a reporter.

I got a chance to do that.

When I was a young reporter, I wanted to work for CBS because Walter Cronkite was my hero. And I got a chance to do that.

And after I was here a while, I wanted to be the moderator of "Face the Nation" ... and I got to do that, and did it for 24 years.

Maybe it's because I just loved the news, but at the time, I thought every job I ever had was the best job in the world -- going behind police lines, talking to cops and soldiers, and then senators, and even presidents.

I tried to remember that the news is not about the newscaster; it's about the people who make it and those who are affected by it.

I'll be honest: I'm going to miss being in the middle of things. But the one thing I will never forget is the trust you placed in me, and how nice you were to have me as a guest in your home over so many years.

That meant the world to me, and it always will. Thank you.