Dear ABMInsider,

A few weeks back, as I was doing my best impression of a stand-up routine at our Top 50 CEO awards gala at the Halifax Convention Centre (with deepest apologies to the actual comedians who were there – Matt Wright and Trent McClellan), I made a joke about Covid.

Here’s the backstory: it had been three years since we had hosted our last in-person awards gala. And so much had happened in the interim. In Fall 2019, the most peaceful transition in the history of business transitions took place when Tonia Sheridan and I became the new co-owners of Atlantic Business Magazine. Tonia’s parents founded the company and she started working in sales soon after; I joined the team in the late ‘90s, first as a freelance contributor and then as a full-time editor.

While we were still adjusting to our new status, Covid swooped in to derail all of our plans. We went from slow-down to shut-down in a matter of weeks, forced to lay off all of our staff, cancel our awards gala and delay publication of our 2020 Top 50 CEO awards issue. We rescheduled, cancelled the summer issue altogether, rescheduled again, got back to work, and slowly battled our way back to existence.

So, when I finally stood on stage again in May 2022, I referred to Covid as the “virus that shall not be named.” And then I went a step too far… Harry Potter nerd that I am, I called it Coldemort.

Yes, I immediately backed that up by saying it’s either laugh or cry and I’d already cried enough over Covid. But I was wrong. Making light of it was a dangerous symptom of an even scarier disease: complacency.

I just came back from a trip to Alberta. No one else was wearing masks or social distancing, so I didn’t either. And after two years of being careful and cautious, of masking and sanitizing, I got Covid.

I’m writing this from home, not even sure if I should be attempting this. I ache from head to toe. My head is pounding. I can’t smell anything. My stomach hurts. I’ve had full body fever shivers for the past two days. It’s like I’m allergic to my own body – I itch all over. And I can barely stay awake for two hours at a time, only to wake myself up with my own coughing. I can only give thanks that I am double-vaxed… I can’t imagine how horrific this would be otherwise.

All this to say that Covid isn’t conquered yet. Please, be safe out there.

 

Dawn Chafe Executive editor & co-owner [email protected]