Things that happened in 2019

A lot has happened this year. But, since most of it isn’t really worthy of recollecting, I’ve picked an event from each month as a memory of a year that I’ll be happy to say goodbye to.

In January I sent a lawyer after my former employer for wrongful termination and, in him working his magic, I was able to get four times the amount that was initially offered in severance. January also marked my mom’s third surgery in less than a 30 days. January was also the month I started this blog. Its inception was with purpose to give me a place to vent about the stress I was going through.

In February I went to the Ice Magic Festival at Lake Louise, fulfilling a dream that I’ve had for more than ten years. It might have just been the coldest day of the year, but nothing (ABSOLUTELY NOTHING) was going to keep me from that lake.

In March I got extremely sick. I went to the hospital multiple times, spent most of the month on different forms of antibiotics and sleeping. It was a long, very cold, very dark month. Knight looked after me and listened to my cry the whole time. This man would get up and out of his pjamas to go to the store in the middle of the night and get me a smoothie, because I wanted one.

In April I went to the Cancer Clinic with my mom, five days a week for many weeks. I watched as she got her treatments, cleaned up after her when she got sick and threw up, made her feel better when she was feeling depressed. I saw the people around her, each with different forms of cancer, each in varying stages of the disease, many with smiles on their face because they were thankful for the life-saving treatments they were receiving. Cancer is an extremely scary illness that affects so many people in our world and I am so thankful that my mom’s was caught early enough that she is now happy and healthy.

To everyone affected by cancer this year, I see you, I feel you and I understand you. Whether you went through it yourself, or you helped a family member or friend through it, you’re amazing. Remember that.

In May I went to Niagara Falls/Toronto. It was a quick trip, jam packed with ensuring I hit all the tourist spots and, all the local spots that were recommended to me before I went. I stayed in a room that had the most stunning view of the falls, took a few turns on the Skywheel, walked the falls at night to see the light show… it was a magical weekend for me. May also marked the birth of my niece, Aya.

In June I got a job offer around the end of the month. It was a digital marketing job, working in publishing. The employer hit me with a lot of paperwork – asking me to sign away my intellectual property rights and several other things. After some amendments were made to the contracts, I signed them and was given a start date of July 15th.

In July my job offer was rescinded. On July 13th, to be exact, precisely two days prior to when I was supposed to start. I was mad, pissed, unhappy and felt like I’d been cheated. The only explanation I got was ‘corporate restructuring’. Wowee. July also marked the birth of my nephew Phillip.

In August I went to Calgary to see an allergist and have a breathing assessment test done. I reckon being trapped in a 2×2 box on a hot summer’s day with no air, being forced to showcase who well, or poorly, your lungs are functioning feels quite similar to what summer in Arizona feels like. IT WAS HOTTTTTTTT.

In September I took a few solo road trips through British Columbia. The Gold Rush Trail was stunning and the Highway Thru-Hell was filled with A LOT of road construction. My mom, finally being healthy enough to travel, went with my dad to Denmark to visit their new granddaughter, so I had a month filled with peace and quiet and was reminded how much I appreciated living alone for ten years. I also saw my best friend, her beautiful family and spent a short amount of time in Vancouver. Twas a good month for me. Even if I was still jobless.

In October I worked the Federal Election. It was long, arduous and awful. The supervisors were idiots and the other clerks were extremely rude. But hey, we won. And, much like I predicted in October, Andrew Scheer did lose and has since resigned his post. I’m extremely glad we don’t have a pathological liar in charge of our country.

In November I turned 31. I had a bit of an existential crisis, lost my marbles for a wee bit and god, my birthday, the actual day itself, is not something I want to remember.

In December I made a commitment to purchasing gifts from Thrift Stores for my family. The way we do things in my family is, because there are so many of us, each of us gets one sibling or parent to purchase a gift for. That gift we’re supposed to spend between $75-100 on. After that, we usually gift each other small, minor things that we think would bring smiles to each other’s face. IE My brother Tyler really loves Starburst candy, so my brother Aaron bought him a bunch of Starbust for Christmas. Me, I spent the month searching thrift stores, and wound up purchasing some new, or almost new gifts for each member of my family for between $5-10 each.

2019, I won’t miss you. You’ve been a long, shitty, disappointing, difficult, heartbreaking, gut-wrenchingly awful year. To the good that did happen, I am grateful and I will always remember it. To the rest, it will serve as a reminder of things I never want to experience ever, ever again. This has been, without a doubt, the hardest year of my life. This has been the most difficult of all 30 years and two months I’ve spent on this planet.

I have resolutions. I plan to, hope to, desire to stick to them. Most of all, though, I hope that 2020 is whole lot fucking better than 2019 was.

Out with the old, in with the new.

58 thoughts on “Things that happened in 2019”

  2. I wish you the best for 2020. Years ago, I had been unemployed for several months, and it was a very difficult time for me too then. However, now, I see it as a time when I learned a lot about myself. Your year was awful but from your post, I can see that you learned a lot too. I hope you can see soon the changes in your life that you are waiting for and that the post you will write next year will be very different from this one.

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    1. Awe, thank you. I hope that this style of post next year is very different too. I tried to learn a lot. I guess that’s the best thing you can do from a bad situation, right? You know that for certain.

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  3. Aaron is a nice name. If I were to have a son in the future, I would name him Aaron.

    2019 has been a rough year and I’m ready for things to turn around in 2020! Never thought I would be living in the year 2020 back when I was 9 years old. Back in the day 2020 seemed so far away, and now here we [almost] are. And now I’m an adult. How did that happen?

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    1. I hope that 2020 gives you newfound independence, a reminder that you’re strong enough to get through anything and that YOU CAN DO everything you put your mind too… one thing, I hope being finding a your own happiness and a lot of it ❤

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    1. I’m sorry for the hardships you’ve been through. Since we both made it to the end, I’ll remind you that you can make it through anything and everything ❤ Here's to 2020 – onward and upward.

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  14. Wow, I had no idea the beginning of your year had been like that. Congrats on having the strength to pull through, and I’m glad you and your mother both recovered! You’ll both be much stronger for it 🙂 💙

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    1. Thank You ❤ I'm pretty happy to have her healthy… even as much as we disagree at times. It's better she's here and healthy.

      January-May were long, stressful days. Well, I guess last December to May, as my mom got her diagnosis last Christmas. But hey, if we can get through that, we can get through anything. (talks about self as a we… yeah, I'm that lame)

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  15. Pingback: Well, 2019, what a year you were! – Darkside Creative

  17. You had the good the bad and the ugly in 2019. I hope this year and this decade bring you joy and that the good and the beautiful will be what tips the scales. What I read through your lines is that you braved through some really difficult times and came out the other side strong and determined to have the life you want. Happy new year, can’t wait to read about all the fantastic things that are heading your way.

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  18. Vee, you’re wonderful and I hope this next year is great and that you pull in a good marketing job. You’ve done so much for me. Shit, i’ve had a few people follow me just from my comments on your blog! Like 3!
    Not to mention all the marketing advice that I’m using in both my work life and on my blog. May this year bring you luck and blessings. You are seriously the best thing that happened in my blogging life. And all I had to do is post about business cards ;). There you appeared… like Ms. Blog Angel. You have something very special and I have a feeling your specialness will make 2020 a good year.

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    1. Thank you ❤ This totally made me cry last night when I read it. You're a wonderful soul and I'm glad I found you when I did.

      May 2020 bring you everything you desire for the year and plenty of health and happiness too.

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  19. Vee, YOU are one truly INCREDIBLE human being ….. and you are blessing us all even more than you’ll ever know. I admire you. A whole lot. And I want the world to shine even brighter with your kick-ass awesomeness! BEST OF 2020!!! 🙂

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    1. Yeka, my dear, thank you ❤ You're such a beautiful soul and your kindness really brightened my spirits so much when I read this. Thank you for being so kind and loving and genuine. I hope 2020 is amazing to you.

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    1. Happy New Year, my dear platypus. I hope you and the Mrs. had a splendid holiday and are ready for another year of adventure ahead. I need to live variously through your travels again this year!

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  21. ❤ So sorry you experienced a lot of hardships in 2019. But I pray this NEW YEAR will be full of blessings and good experiences, creating wonderful memories, than any other year. 🙂

    Hugs and Blessings to you, V! ❤

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