Well, I think the title might just about say it all…
I know that it’s been an incredibly difficult year for so many, and that it continues to be, there is no doubt about it. This past year was quite “the one“, with a world wide pandemic, protests for social justice and change, political upheavals and elections, working from home (if you still even had a job!), and on and on and on. Although all of these issues were happening, all at once I might add, everywhere to almost everyone, there were still plenty of flashes of light and hope in between the trauma of it all.
For Hilcia and I, fortunately, this past year was quite a different experience. I say this obviously from my own perspective, and with all due respect to the many that have not been as fortunate, but I think sharing positive stories and notes from the pandemic are a great reminder that not all bad needs to stay bad.
For us, so many things happened, that this past year was a whirlwind…
It started at the beginning of 2020 with Hilcia and I both working in Hong Kong on the latest Disney Project. We were looking forward to our next list of trips throughout Asia, with Hong Kong as our base, and eager to finalize our relocation. So, while we made our plans, and returned to the States to pack up and sell our Pasadena condo, the pandemic became real and spread. Luckily, we sold our home in early February, right before Covid hit the States hard. But, then, at the same moment we sold our home, we were informed that we wouldn’t be able to return to Hong Kong as the pandemic was now in full swing.
With nowhere to go, and our home now sold, we decided to wait it out in Orlando, where we had a property that was being worked on. And wait we did… February turned into March and March into April. In April, I was furloughed. For many, including myself, it was an incredibly stressful and unknown time. But, the newly announced time off became my ally. I used the days to manage and work on completion of the duplex we had started. One down, and…
Next, with the money we had made on the sale of our Pasadena home, we bought another property in Orlando. Because the pandemic was now spreading, it made our purchasing power that much stronger as we landed on another place. The summer time off allowed both Hilcia and I, with our wonderful Contractor, to work on fixing this new property.
Now, as all of this is happening, Hilcia receives the call that she can now relocate back to Hong Kong. But, as I’m now furloughed, I can not. So, we decided it was time to get hitched, after almost seven years together! This would allow me to be listed as her dependent and move my relocation process forward. So, with Hilcia now heading back to Asia, I made the most of it and finished the newly purchased duplex, literally one week before I received final approval to follow Hilcia. Whew! Still with me? Ha!
Ok, so next, I fly to Hong Kong, in the middle of September, and am quarantined in a hotel for two weeks. If none of you have had to quarantine, count yourself lucky. Although it was two weeks of not leaving the room, at least I was in Hong Kong, so that made me incredibly happy. Hilcia was literally just on the other side of the door and the next chapter of our life awaited. During my time in quarantine, I finished a Project that I had been working off and on for many years, my poetry book. The time alone, especially, was an incredible time of introspection and really allowed me to concentrate on soul searching. Upon completion of quarantine, I published!
So now, it’s been over five months since Hilcia and I have been living together here in Hong Kong. She continues to work as an Architect for Disney as I continue to write and work on a new novel. Life, even with all it’s issues, is good…
You may ask, why am I bothering to share all of this with you? Well, it’s simple, really…
I open up our experience in order to show that there is hope, there is light, and there is positivity in this world, our world, your world. Good can come from bad, you can make the best even during the worst and that positive stories do exist, even now.
Thanks for reading and listening…
LOCAL | yetnot 