I had no idea that March 29th 2020 would be the last time I saw the love of my life. For the past two years, we had travelled to several countries and were making the most of our time apart while we planned for our future together and worked towards closing the gap. With the flip of a switch, our entire lives as we knew it changed.

As we sat in the Winnipeg airport, after travelling to the country we planned to move to, we booked flights to Greece for March 8th through the 11th. I would fly to Ireland and surprise my boyfriend before going to Greece and fly back just a few days later. As I prepped for my travels, those that I knew, cautioned me to wear a mask and to be safe. My parents encouraged me to cancel the flight. To me, the idea of the Corona Virus was still a joke. I got on a shuttle bus packed with people, and made my way to the airport. I saw maybe twenty people amongst busy crowds wearing masks and I mocked them. “What germaphobes?!” I thought and laughed it off.

Upon arriving at the Dublin airport, I was flashed with yellow Covid-19 signs every few feet. Still, I stood amongst several others, mask free and in a foreign country, waiting to board a bus that would bring me to my boyfriend. I arrived to his home and hid in his room waiting for him to get off of work so I could surprise him with my presence.

A few days later, we were on our way to Greece. Going back to the airport just a few days later, things were drastically different. It was still busy, but most people were wearing masks. I found my seat on the flight and was greeted by an elderly couple wiping their seats down, wearing gloves and masks and loading up on sanitizer. Part of me thought they were insane, because I was stuck in my own little bubble-internet free and with my boyfriend I hadn’t seen since January, but there was this other part of me that thought “Fuck, this might be real.” I remember texting Stephen, who was seated a few rows ahead of me, “The start of an apocalyptic horror film” It was all laugh and giggles but I was getting scared. I was quick to tell myself it was my anxiety and that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal and I was just trying to forget about it- I mean, I was on my way to Greece where I would be staying on the beach with my lovely boyfriend.. I was so excited for Spring Break vacation!!

We got to Greece and made our way to our hotel. Oh it was so incredible. We paid close to nothing for this gorgeous hotel that sat on the beach with a balcony and all. I am thankful to have had this experience right before Covid-19 hit. In a way, I feel like it was such a blessed experience to have a beach vaca with my boyfriend as the pandemic got to settle, because had we not gone, the last time before this all happened would have been January in Canada. Everything was timed to the minute of working out. For some random reason, it was the first time we had ever decided to buy tickets for the next trip while we were still together on a trip. For some random reason I decided to surprise him and come a few days before Spring break. Had we not done either of these things, it would have been 10 months since we had seen each other instead of 8.

Everything was perfect, until my fears became a reality as we entered back into Ireland.