OPINION
Our office is weirdly quiet this week.
That's because Basil Gist's last day was July 10.
Three and a half years ago, I struck up a conversation with him in line at the Pilot Point Coffee House.
When I walked away from that interaction, I left feeling like he had learned more about me than I had about him.
Neither of us fully realized it at the time, but that was his job interview as far as I was concerned.
Thank goodness his writing stood up to his natural ability to conduct an interview.
When it came time for us to hire a full-time reporter right after that, the choice was easy for me, even though he had no formal journalism background.
That was a great decision on my part.
For three and a half years, Basil covered our communities and helped anywhere I needed him to.
He learned how city government works.
He showed up to community events.
He worked on capturing not just the description of what happened, but also the photos from the events.
He even covered sports when needed.
It's always weird to have a staff member leave. For better or worse, we tend to function like a family because we have a rather small staff, and we depend on each other so often.
In addition to all the ways Basil supported me in our work, he has also become an important and valued friend of mine, even being dubbed 'Mr. Uncle Basil' by my girls.
He has been there for me through so many difficult life experiences and exciting life moments, and I've gotten to celebrate with him as well as support him while he has experienced hardships and loss.
Basil hasn't left for a different paper, and he didn't leave because he didn't like working at the paper.
He left because he got a great new opportunity in a different industry.
I'm grateful for the time we had with Basil on staff here.
Now to figure out how to make the office a little less quiet.
Abigail Allen is the Editor & Publisher of the Post-Signal. She can be reached at aallen@postsignal. com.
