Anniversary Happy NOT

Yesterday I did NOT celebrate that anniversary that I did NOT look forward to, and which I did NOT hope for! Yesterday was NOT an achievement. Yesterday, I completed 365 days away from my day job I cherished for so many years and that brought me fulfillment and satisfaction every single day. Covid-19 was merciless and forced me, and millions of people, to one choice and one only. Was it a choice at all ... confine yourself in order to avoid getting the virus and to prevent spreading it! 

At the end of my shift, on April 5th, 2020, my employer told me to go home and 'hide' and that we will see each other when it is safe to do so. The following day, my HOME STAY began with absolutely no estimate of the date when it would end. I was thinking this 'empty/silly' stay would last a couple of weeks and ~ because it is always good to be flexible ~ possibly a bit longer than a couple of weeks, in the worst case scenario. Mais non, pas du tout! Here I am on my Anniversary Day! Definitely a joyless day which I hope to never experience again. What an ugly feeling to find yourself, from a work point of view, unable to be productive. Those in the hospitality field, like me, or in any service field that involves attending to people and helping/assisting them, found themselves with NO people to attend to and to assist. My guest, your client, your customer and your patron are, as well, confining themselves in order to avoid getting the virus and to prevent spreading it. Due to that, the business, especially in the hospitality and tourism related fields, has gone below zero. Over twelve months later, my city, the amazing Big Apple is showing signs of a return to a normal [new normal] life. As small as it can be, as shy as it may seem, it is still a return. Most importantly, it has to be a safe one. 

At the end, to all the readers who may have had such an anniversary recently or will have very soon, I hope that it will be your first and last. No one wishes to remember or moreover commemorate a year of emptiness. Je vous aime. Voila!