Like many of you, I had originally made plans to travel this year. My husband and I had booked round trip tickets to fly from Toronto to Singapore, via Shanghai, and then from Singapore to Sydney and back. Most of our family are in Asia and Australia and ever since moving to Toronto, we don’t get to see them very often due to the long trips that require both time and money. With both of our grandmothers passed their mid-nineties, we thought it was time to pay them a visit while we still have the opportunity. And since we were going to that part of the world, we decided that we’d stop by to see my parents in Asia as well. Our plan was to leave after Easter, when we would be able to take a break from our work.
Then COVID-19 hit and it wasn’t safe to fly overseas anymore. I also didn’t want to run the risk of catching something on the plane and passing it on to any of our already frail grandmas. Along with travelers having to self-isolate for 14 days, it would totally defeat the purpose of our travels if we couldn’t see anyone. But I didn’t have to worry about that for long, because shortly after, the rest of the world would be affected and all our flights would be cancelled.
So here I am, at home, like the rest of you. If all had gone to plan, I would be in Asia celebrating Mother’s Day with my mum (or mom as you all say here in North America). It’s been 3 years since I last saw her in person and I don’t even remember when was the time I got to celebrate Mother’s Day with her. So, you can imagine how disappointing it was when I found out I could no longer go. COVID-19 has been a big reminder that things often don’t go as planned.
But when plans don’t work out, surprises do! Earlier in April, Becca of The Happy Ever Crafter reached out on Facebook to see if anyone from The Happy Ever Crafter’s Facebook group wanted to submit some work to be considered for a Mother’s Day Campaign that Facebook was running. We were asked to submit a picture of a handwritten Mother’s Day letter and a couple of photos of us with our mothers. The deadline was the next day, so I did a simple design in the little time I had. Somehow I managed to pass the first round and was later contacted by their producer to also submit a video message to my mum. Much to my surprise and delight, they later informed me that my submission was selected to be included in their Mother’s Day campaign!
As an added bonus, both my mum and I would be compensated because they wanted to use one of our photos. My mum was pretty amused that she’s getting paid just for being in a photo! Neither of us have seen the end product yet (my mum also has no idea what I submitted), but the compensation has allowed her to get herself a nice Mother’s Day gift; which of course is nothing, compared to having her daughter there to celebrate with her. We can only hope that things will work out next year, but until then, catch our faces on Facebook!
UPDATE: Turns out that the ad is on only airing on Facebook in the US. And as much as I'd like to think it was my calligraphy that got us in (there wasn't any calligraphy in the ad in the end), it was actually the matching tracksuits in the photo above that got us a spot! Thanks mum!
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