So it's been a while here in lock down. This is week 3 for me. A month ago I was looking forward to starting a new job in Winnipeg. I was looking for a place to live. I was looking forward to the beginning of a new life.
Before that life was rocky. Not going to lie about it. In 2019, the economy tanked. My business endured losses of approximately 40%. We had no income coming into our household and I could barely afford to pay my business bills. In fact, many were put on hold. We liquidated everything we could to live, including selling our prized 1967 candy apple red convertible Mustang. The Mustang was going to be our freedom. We used to imagine moving out to the coast where we could drive it more than three months. That dream was gone the moment we watched another couple drive it down the street.
By the end of 2019, I was praying for a miracle. I had applied for hundreds of jobs by then. And nothing came through for me or my husband. We bypassed Christmas because we couldn't afford it. We couldn't afford food and we didn't want anyone to see how bad things were for us.
January, February of 2020 continued to be disasterous. Sales were below the price of the my lease, and so I was unable to make rent. And unable to afford to pay bills. Our mortgage was by this time months behind because our Mustang money ran out, and we were officially at risk of losing our home.
I confided in a friend one day that I was afraid. That the risk of losing my home was looming. Never mind my business. Homelessness was my big worry. She referred me to a consulting company in Manitoba, I applied for a position, and thankfully I was hired, with a a start date of March 16.
The COVID19 risk was in the air already, forcing me to close my doors and go to a "by appointment only" approach.
On the way to Winnipeg, still thinking my business could operate, I made the decision to let go. To close my business. The plan was for my husband to go back to Regina to close the business.
And then a few days later, while we were still in Winnipeg, the COVID19 pandemic intensified. The government shut down our business as we were deemed "nonessential." The world shut down. Businesses closed. Streets rolled up. People stayed home.
I was living with my aunt and uncle but I was placing their health at risk by going to work every day and coming back to their place. So my employer sent me home with a laptop to begin working offsite. I had hoped to be back in Winnipeg by April 1.
It's now April 15 and the lockdown continues. I am working from home, learning a new business and a new industry. My store is frozen in time, with the exception of less than a handful of online sales in over a month.
It's hard to express how surreal this is. It's like we are either entering a new world, or the world is ending. I am not sure which it is.
In the event that it's the latter, I thought I would gather my "children" - my words - and try and bring them together in one place. This is my compendium. My COVID19 Compendium.