Every New Beginning…

Tomorrow I close the chapter on my life at 2H. Strange to think I stumbled into that office nearly seven years ago without a clue as to where my life was headed. But, I suppose that’s exactly how all of us begin every day – unwittingly perched on the edge of what lies ahead.

It was the summer of 2009 and I had been laid off a few months before my interview and desperation was setting in. So, I grasped at the long-shot temp job which I doubted would last long at all. ‘Document controller?’ I had never even heard of that, much less knew what the work entailed.  Little did I know this fateful accident would lead to 2,446 days of friendship and discovery.

It would take a much longer segment of writing to fully explain all the particulars of that proud cult. But all the precise language I could string together would never quite capture the effortless identity and inclusion, the unspoken hierarchy, the automatic closeness, the cheerful brainwashing, the irresistible niche, and the familiar warmth. Good intentions shadowing a hushed underbelly. A spinning, happy chaos.

If this truncated description seems conflicting, it only serves to hint at my own controversy. Even now, after many years – some golden, some dreary – it warrants contemplation and defies description. Only people who experienced it first hand can ever truly understand it.

So, as the final hours dawn, I am left with an acute appreciation for the things that have transpired in those tumultuous days, and a firm belief that these years have left their indelible mark on my identity.