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We're going to make it through this.

Wow.  What a week, huh?

I hesitate to mention the word (shhh, whisper it: Coronavirus or Covid-19, if you prefer) because we're all getting tired of it.  Looks like for the time being, though, it is a part of our every day lives and vocabulary.  Kids are off school, things are closing faster than we can keep up and grocery stores are seeing records set for certain items bought.

It's real.  It's affecting every single person all over the world.  What's worse, it can be INfecting someone and they might not know it.  Scary thought.

Besides the obvious concerns about shut downs, loss of jobs for the time being, quarantine possibilities and social distancing, one thing has replayed over and over in my mind.  The last unprecedented even to happen on American soil: 9/11.

Here's why:

In the late fall of 2000, I had the opportunity and did purchase the store I'd worked for for several years - Party Works.  I loved that store.  We sold party supplies and made custom balloon bouquets, gift baskets, did gift wrapping and decorated for parties and weddings.  We did large events like balloons for the car show in the mall, decorating car show rooms and putting up the huge balloons outside of companies that attract people to their location.  We would make special event decorations, help families celebrate the birth of babies, celebrate birthday milestones and graduations.

If you know me even a little, you'll know that this job suited me.  I loved it.

But September 11, 2001, changed the layout of America and eventually wiped out my store.  Parties ceased.  Every party was canceled.  For a long time.  Milestone birthdays and anniversaries went by without fanfare.  Corporate events became low key gatherings.  Balloons ceased to bring joy and were not ordered.

Being in my first year of business, I wasn't operating with a huge cash flow.  That cash flow came to an abrupt halt and on December 30, 2001, I made the tough decision to close my retail store.  I cried for days.  I regretted letting my faithful few employees go.  I felt like a failure.  I rewatched You've Got Mail several times, sobbing when she had to close her shop.

I moved what I could to a warehouse a friend owned and continued to operate a decorating service only from there for maybe two more years, but it made very little.  I regained some of the corporate clients, but most didn't want to order from a place they couldn't go in to.

After those two years were up, I moved my operations home, taking on several part-time jobs and still doing decorating intermittently.  

In 2008, I filed bankruptcy.  And I cried some more.  I'd fought as long as I possibly could, but it was a sinking ship.  Probably had sunk some years before, but I was desperate and not wanting to give up this job I loved.

My point in this painful walk down memory lane?  We're going to make it through this.   The landscape might change.  NYC's sure did.  The resiliency in the heart of man is strong, though.

I made it through.  I still miss my store.  I cringe every time I see poorly made balloons.  And I miss decorating my store for the seasons.  I miss my customers.  In turn, I love my life right now, too.  It's good.  It has been hard-fought and hard-earned.  I face the possibility of the landscape changing again in the near future, too, because my boss will retire one of these days.  But, that is a concern for another day because I know Who I trust, Who I put my hopes in, Who I turn my fear over to.

If businesses are lost, it is YOU behind those businesses.  You can rebuild, start over or completely change courses.  Times will be difficult.  Many tears may fall.  BUT, there is so much life on the other side.  I am braver than I was before that experience.  I like to think I'm smarter (but please don't ask my sister...).  

Don't give up, friends.  Don't play the blame game, either.  It gets you no where except bitter and angry and that personality is not welcomed or pleasant right now.   There were far worse things happening to others at the time and my issues, though devastating at the time, were just a drop in a very large bucket compared to the lives lost that day.

I hope your small business can sustain this crisis, even the company that employs you.  But, from someone who knows, it will be okay.  The Lord didn't choose to save my store, but He gave me new purposes, new direction and never once left my side.  Look up. 



I lift up my eyes to the hills -- 
where does my help come from? 
My help comes from the LORD, 
the Maker of heaven and earth.  
Psalm 121 1


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