I'm back! (or I have returned)

That expression I think is most apt for the moment.

It means two things. First, that I'm back in the blogsphere. And second, that I'm back here at the Department of Education. (which explains why I said I have returned)

Since I left the Department in 2005, a part of me always wanted to return. When I accepted an appointment in the Office of the President, I thought I would stay there for several years but little did I know that three months later I would transfer to the Office of the Solicitor General.

But after working hard and trying to make a difference in the OSG, my stay there was abruptly cut when my principal, now Justice Nachura, was appointed to the hight court. And then the DepEd beckoned to me again, calling to me in the manner mermaids enthrall wayward sailors and here I am.

Those familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's TLOR trilogy are familiar with the ending of the Return of the King where Sam Gamgee (after sending off the Baggins in the Gray Havens) returns to his wife and kids and simply says "I'm back." That ending, so simple and sweet, was so abrupt. It made you yearn for more. You could not believe that the story was over. You wanted more but there's none to be had.

I guess I'm saying "I'm back" because I yearn for me. My stay here as Chief of Staff to then Secretary Florencio Abad came to a sudden halt that I was jolted. Everything was a haze that I had to stop and pause to get my bearings.

I know that here I can contribute. I can make a difference. And so, Chapter II of my DepEd career has began and it begins with "I'm back!" :)