This isn't the way I envisioned it. This isn't the way I intended to launch my blog. This isn't where I thought I'd be writing from. This year was supposed to be different. It was supposed to include my #dad.
I had big plans to launch this blog last October 25th - what would have been #Chile's 14th birthday - with a heart-warming featured blog post about my Pug, what I'd learned from him and his passing, which happened 10 months prior. I had the section layout all set for the homepage. I was excited to launch with a post that so many could relate to.
But on October 8, 2019, life, as I knew it, stopped.
My dad passed away suddenly in his home from a cardiopulmonary arrest. I had seen him just that day - he was so excited to be coming home from the hospital after a week-long stay. Just hours before he died he texted me a thumbs-up emoji - that was the last I would ever hear from him.
I know that my dad will be a popular topic on this blog as long as I'm writing it. But let's catch up on the last five months, shall we?
I bought my first piece of property, a condo, just before the New Year. The entire home-buying process, from the first time I saw the place to the day I got the keys was about 35 days. No, it's not a typo. I fell in love with this place and apparently I was the only one, because the rest, as they say, is history. At the present moment I'm sitting in a swing-chair on one of my enclosed balconies with a blanket in my lap, surrounded by candles and twinkle lights, next to a very healthy Peace Lily plant I've managed to keep alive after a client sent it to me when my dad passed. Everything about this paragraph blows my mind. That's right: I said swing-chair.
We are now entering week four of #QuarantineLife. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, I haven't seen the flesh of any of my friends or family in almost a month. I have no idea how I'm surviving either. This is utter chaos and I'm pretty sure that what is helping me get through this is that I'm still partially in shock. This is not something I ever expected to experience in my lifetime. The rink is closed, the NHL season is on pause, my 94-year-old #grandma is literally on lockdown in her senior living facility, and I just had a Zoom call with my family yesterday. No, this is not a plot teaser for a reprieve of 'The Twilight Zone,' but I feel like it should be. For an extrovert like myself, it's been an adjustment to say the least.
While I'm not bored - I'm SUPER fortunate to still be working and earning most of my regular income - I have been in desperate need of finding things to keep my mind fresh and my creative juices flowing. Well, there is literally no better time than the social-distancing present to fire this puppy up. And not just because I've already forfeited one-quarter of my blog hosting contract! *insert crying emoji here*
So how will I survive quarantine? What have I done with my new place? What has the grieving process taught me? Who is this strange cooking fiend who has taken over my kitchen? While I've been pretty piss-poor at planning the last two years, I think it's pretty safe to say I should have plenty of time in the next little while to show you. So...what the heck...let's get this party started.
"Time is everything we have and don't." -Atticus
Great Blog Deborah! Thank you for sharing your story from your heart. Looking forward to your next posts but I will just marinate in this one for a while.