I've been thinking a lot about the situation we all find ourselves in. Some of us are doing better than others. I've been trying to find a silver lining in all of this, so here goes.

My wife and I had this plan for moving to BC this summer. She moved on April 15th.

The plan was that she would move and find a place for us to live, get settled in Victoria, and start building her network on relationships. I would stay home with the kids until the end of the school year. I had asked my employer to let me work remotely. That was denied.

As fate would have it.. the VP who denied my request to work remotely was let go the day after rendering his decision. So back to asking a new VP.

Then Covid hit. Schools closed, my office closed and we were all suddenly working from home.

My eldest daughter was heart-broken. She loved her school, loved her friends, and was so sad that she wasn't going to get to say goodbye. My youngest was on the other spectrum. She's in her element when she can just stay home and be with her family (including our nanny).

So here's where my story comes about. Covid put us all in the same house and threw our plans up in the air. The stress of trying to plan a move, educate your kids, prep your house for rent (or sale) in the middle of a pandemic, that could crush you.

Instead this is what I've seen. My relationship with my wife, which had been through some rough times leading up to the decision to move, could have gotten worse. It got better. Being with my wife all day every day made me see all the things I love about her.

My girls, forced to spend all day every day with each other.. found a way to love spending time together, and have become better sisters. They've become so caring and empathetic towards each other and their patience is amazing.

As the weather has warmed up, they've reconnected with friends and are spending time outside, riding bikes, enjoying being kids.

The most heartwarming of all, they understand the trouble that so many of us experience every day, and they want to make people feel better.

They, along with our close cohort family that we share a duplex with, went around placing rocks with smiley faces around the neighbourhood to cheer other up. We rode around the neighbourhood dropping off notes of love to friends.

This pandemic is a curse for so many reasons, but it's also a blessing because it presents us with opportunities to see the best of our shared situation. Look at our kids, who are modeling behaviour many of us have lost.

Look at your neighbourhood: when was the last time you took the time to explore it? You have the chance now. You might not be able to live your life like normal, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Go live as best you can. We're all in this together. #LoveWins