While some cried tears of joy Thursday evening at the miraculous recovery of 13-year old Jayme Closs, others cried tears of sorrow as they said goodbye to a dear friend.

Thursday evening, January 10 Mark Rosen signed off at WCCO after 50 years there.

WCCO says of Rosen -- affectionately nicknamed Rosie -- that he "grew up watching ‘CCO, interned here, landed a job and stayed." Rosen was still in high school at St. Louis Park High when he landed his internship at WCCO. A sports fan, he followed Minnesota sports as they grew -- "That’s why his story is magical – he lived it with the teams that he grew up with...a full complement of sports in Minnesota."

And now, after 50 years, he's chosen to say goodbye to television to spend more time with his wife Denise and adult children Nick and Chloe.

Thursday night, WCCO featured an emotional, 27-minute long, commercial-free tribute to Rosen.

"It's going to be like the end of the Wizard of Oz," Rosie says in one scene, "It's going to be like saying goodbye to your best friends. But also understand that in the end, there's no place like home. And that's where I need to be,"

Watch the full video for yourself below or at least be sure to catch minutes 13-15. And have tissues handy. A lot of tissues.