Love (and Loss) in the Time of Corona

“Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do, you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez , Love In The Time of Cholera

Four months ago, I was offered what seemed like an incredible job at a growing company that I had personally loved for a long time. This was a new position that didn’t exist before, so I was truly excited to say yes and put my stamp on a brand that was near and dear to my heart. Four months later I now find myself without that job wondering what the future holds for me.

As of this writing, roughly 16.8 million people have applied for unemployment in the last three weeks largely related to COVID-19 (corona virus), so I am far from alone. It can always be worse, and I am still much more fortunate than most people in my situation. I am also fortunate that so far (fingers crossed), I have not lost anyone personally to this nasty virus. Others close to me have not been as lucky.

On the day I lost my job, I also found out that my Facebook friend Eva-Marie Schulze lost her father Heinz-Dieter. I met them both during my time studying abroad in Germany/Austria in the summer of 2007. The photo above is of their village, Telfes Im Stubai, which is where we stayed while studying in Austria. Their family owned a hotel called Landhaus Birgit and we befriended them during our time there. Her father still remains one of the friendliest people that I’ve ever met in my entire life. He showered us with gifts like we were some sort of famous visiting dignitaries. I still have the hat, beer glasses, and engraved knife that he gave me. It was on my bucket list to return there someday and return the gratitude that he showed me. I will forever be disappointed that I did not get to do so. So while I may have only lost my job, the world and families are losing some truly great people.

So what’s next for me? Well, I’m not quite sure, and to be honest that’s the exciting part. I’m now an unrestricted free agent who can explore any great opportunities that come his way. In high school, my dream was to either work in the music industry or become a sports writer at the Morning Call. Through hard work, persistence, and a lot more luck than most people would admit, I was able to accomplish both of those dreams before I turned 30. After that however, I never felt at home at any of my other jobs. These past four months, I actually enjoyed being at work again and I now know whatever I do from here on out, it has to match or excede that feeling.

So yes, in the end I’m still glad I said yes four months ago. And hey, if you know any awesome brands/companies/causes who need an experienced public relations/communications guy, send them my way. In the meantime however, you can find me here sporadically writing articles about whatever I feel like including and not limited to: sports, music, movies, tv, travel, and stories about life.

And with that, I leave you with this message from Rocky to his son in the movie Rocky Balboa which I believe is perfect for a lot of us right now, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits.”