My “First” Day at Work

After taking close to a one-month hiatus from the paper to go commercial fishing, my future at the Wrangell Sentinel was uncertain. I left Wrangell on June 18 with my Petersburg boss saying he was looking for my replacement, pondered about it all the while gone, and felt a surge of relief when I called the office as soon as I was off the boat (I had zero contact with the outside world while on the boat) and my co-worker informed me that, no, no one was sitting at my desk.

When I returned to the office on Tuesday, I emailed my boss about my return and reiterated my desire to have my job back. He emailed me back on Wednesday, reluctantly offered the job back to me (as he could, he said, at any moment, offer the job to someone else) and asked when I wanted to start. I replied with a big Thank You and said I would start on Wednesday.

So, after about three months of living in uncertainty, I’m finally certain. I am in Wrangell, at the job I held for 17 months, and shall be here for who knows how long. So, my January 2007 “plan” of leaving this island community in August is no more, my “plan” to only live in a location two years is no more. I’m here, and I’m certain.

Unbeknownst to me, Beth captured an image of me around 3 p.m. on my first day of work.