April 3 2021,

Published by Victor Barr on

One year ago today I turned fifty. It was supposed to be an epic year. It was supposed to be one that saw us travel the world and enjoy a taste of freedom like I never knew in my adult life. Supposed is a long word that doesn’t always mean what it says.

At first, it all seemed so surreal. It felt like an experience from some sci-fi movie. We were told to stay apart; the health experts said we needed to flatten the curve. New terminology was being dropped on us every day. The first thing I had to cancel was my birthday shaker… then it started to look like our trip to Europe was in jeopardy.

For other people, the consequences of the pandemic reached much farther and deeper.  Lives were being lost in alarming numbers in places like Italy and Spain. It all made sense that we close down and take a break. For my daughter, it was a coronabreak. Little did we know the coronabreak would last until September.  It started to feel like we were watching a bad disaster movie.

We knew by the end of April our vacation of a lifetime would not come true. Travel to Europe was out of the question, we couldn’t even travel to the USA right next door.

In our little corner of the world, we were untouched.

Covid was some scary monster that lurked in other parts of the world. After an initial crash, the stock market recovered and then soared. Real estate prices started to get out of control. Nothing really made a lot of sense anymore. The restrictions were met with resistance and in some people’s minds, it was the start of communism or worse.

I wish people realized it was for our own good. China locked down tight for three months and now has not experienced a second or third wave of cases. Yet in Canada case counts were rising. They told us we were in a third wave. When did the second wave end?

I wish I were writing about the amazing ski season I had. I wish I was celebrating how things are getting brighter for us and my birthday shaker in the yard will be one to remember. I wish…

Unfortunately, wishes don’t always come true. And life can send us for a real spin.

It has been a tumultuous week leading up to this my second fiftieth birthday. First, they closed the restaurants and told Whistler Blackcomb to shutter its doors. Then there was the party at Charley’s followed by Big White announcing it would close early.

Then the little viral enemy came to my door… We will never know how our viral foe was able to infect my lovely wife. At least she should be ok. Many others have suffered much worse at the hands of this new virus. It just came way too close to home… So much for the haircut, I was going to have.

Now I need to sit at home and isolate myself..it will give me time to clean the house and work on my book. It could be a good thing. I wish it felt good. It feels like the most agonizing time of the pandemic. It feels all too real.

Categories: Daily Journal

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