Rickey Antoine is back doing what he loves — law enforcement.

The 17-year veteran officer is back on Port Arthur police force eight months after being placed on indefinite suspension.

“I’m just glad to be back,” Antoine, who was hired back in mid-February, said.

The past months have been tough for the Port Arthur native, who said he wouldn’t wish this on his worst enemy.

“In June I was terminated, lost my job. On Aug. 1, I lost the greatest person in my life, my mom,” he said of the death of his mother, Sadie Mae Antoine. “She succumbed to pancreatic cancer so I wear pink pens in her memory because she’s not here to see me return.”

Then, on Aug. 29, his house flooded during the historic rainfall from Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey. As the waters rose he was forced to leave his home in the dead of night, wading to safety.

Since then he learned some new skills.

“I’ve become a very good handyman,” he said. “Before this I only knew law enforcement but you don’t know what you can do unless you are placed in that position.”

The carpentry terms ‘sheetrock, tape and float’ are now common with Antoine as he helped repair his home.

“My story is not that much different than any other person in Port Arthur. We’ve survived,” he said.

Through the tumultuous time Antoine relied on his faith.

“I hold no ill will toward anyone. This particular stretch made my faith in God stronger. I learned to totally depend on Him,” he said. “You can do (go on) when you have but when you are without you need Him more. Sit back and watch Him made a way when you didn’t see a way.”

Antoine said he is grateful for all of the prayers and support he received while dealing what he’s dealt with.

He also found out a little something along the way.

“Through this I found that Rickey Antoine is not as hated as I thought,” he said. “Since I’ve been back there’s been so much hand shaking and hugs across the board, men and woman, young and old, white, Hispanic, black, Asian. This let’s me know how effective I was in reaching the community. As a whole it’s been sobering to see all of the well wishes since I’ve been back.”

Antoine said he now knows his extent of reaching the community and that he somehow made a difference, Now, he’s back to doing what he loves.

“I will give the city what I was paid to do, the best of me, and continue to go forward. I don’t want to go back,” he said. “In life, whatever we experience, God allows us to go through for a reason. We may not like it but hopefully we are better, wiser and stronger because of it.”

Antoine said he is happy to return to the front line of “hard working dedicated men and women of Port Arthur Police Department.”

Long known locally for his duties as a traffic cop, Antoine is still in discussions regarding his new duties but some things are already set.

Beginning Tuesday Antoine will continue his weekly Ask a Cop column in the Port Arthur News where he answers traffic related questions as well as his Ask a Cop live radio show that will run at 1 p.m. Tuesdays on KSAP FM 107.1 The Breeze.