5 minute read
WONDER WOMEN
In this month's Wonder Women feature, I keep it really close to home and felt that my wife and mother to our daughter Sage, certainly deserves an ode to her wonderfully honest and well written story, which played an integral part in us closing the loop of my lock down eBook, Cooking in the Apocalypse - Recipes for the End ofthe World.
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Like so many families out there, both our livelihoods were catastrophically impacted as of 1 April 2020 and we found ourselves in a somewhat desperate financial predicament, which can only breed more stress, pressure and tension. We took stock of where we were, what we had and who we are and formulated a plan to, above all, mentally survive the ordeal and come out as stronger individuals and stronger partners. I wanted Evie to tell her side of the story, she did... it was honest, emotional and inspired.
Life in Lockdown
Written by Evie Steenekamp
We had no idea what to expect when the 21 day lock down was announced in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. What we were sure of though, is that we had to find a purpose for our time in isolation. Something to distract us from the initial fear for our family’s health, and of course the distress of our financial survival. We were fortunate that we had a few things that made our experience a little easier.
The first was that Josh and I did spend a lot of time together at home before lock down. Most relationships aren’t really built on the expectation that you will spend all your time together, but we’ve worked together throughout our relationship, so dealing with being in each other’s space for prolonged periods of time wasn’t much of a concern. I think we manage it pretty well, we’ve found a good balance. However, being confined to our home with a toddler did pose some interesting challenges at times.
The second was that we stay in a small community on the Wild Coast. It’s one of the most beautiful places to live, and although we couldn’t be near our neighbors, we could still see them, and talk to them. It was the most amazing thing to listen to a family in our estate let rip on their trombones at 6pm every evening, and then hear the cheers from fellow residents after the performance. Heart-warming! We also don’t have pets, but our neighbors dogs have become part of our family and having animals around brings so much joy! Dougie and Chloe always had access to the house, and by Sage’s order, their water bowl stayed filled.
Thirdly, our Deck. The best part of our house! We spent as much time as we could out there, mostly chasing our daughter, she loves a good run. We spent so many of our evening’s braaing and sitting at the top of the skate ramp watching the sunset.
We also celebrated some important occasions during lock down. Easter was a fun one! We got into the spirit by painting white coated eggs with food colouring. The visit from the Bunny was certainly heavily anticipated in our house, and with lock down in full swing the bunny was feeling just as cash strapped as the rest of us.
Luckily, the Paas Haas went a bit overboard with choccies the year before, so there was no need to buy much and the thrifty Bunny repurposed most of the eggs for an awesome hunt!
Sage turned 3!
Sage turned 3! This special day was filled with whatever she wanted to do, so we committed our first crime as a family... a very quick sneaky beach walk. We just had to. We also made piñata cupcakes filled with smarties, danced, sang and made sure our little girl had a birthday to remember. We will naturally of course have another 3rd Bday for her as soon as we can get the family around, but don't tell her that!
We said goodbye to Chloe. The friendliest, coolest natured little animal. Her family moved away. If you watch the quesadilla episode of Josh's 21 Recipes in 21 Days on YouTube, you’ll pick up how emotional that day was for us. Josh and I almost cry every time we watch it. Sage still calls her, and we still miss her.
I can’t remember there being moments where we had nothing to do. Filming and editing the videos was an all day affair and while Josh was doing that, I had to keep Sage occupied and it just seemed like either one of us was always cooking something. We played skittles, skated, did yoga and Josh taught sage to box. Sometimes while Sage slept we had date night drinks in the garage coming up with recipe ideas.
It’s crazy to think that that was our “normal” for a while, and at a bit of a low point, I did imagine what I’d spend my lotto winnings on if I hit the jackpot. I had moments of sadness about everything that had happened and what so many of us lost. It all changed so quickly. I missed everyone. Just being around people.
But I want to look back on it all and remember the milestones we hit as a and everything we overcame. family,
This experience needs to be a reminder of the appreciation we have for the ones we love and care about. An appreciation for being strong and healthy. An appreciations For nature and being outside.
An appreciation for freedom!
