Covid and our small business

Oh man, y’all, life has thrown us one heck of a curveball since COVID turned everything upside down. Prices shot through the roof—groceries, gas, you name it—and our rents for the house and store building skyrocketed right along with ‘em. We were forced into that heart-wrenching decision: hold onto our home or the business? The store had to come first; it’s our livelihood, our very pulse. But then came the kicker—double rent for the upstairs space, or it was sealed off limits. While I was hauling my stuff down from there, I took two brutal falls that wiped out every bit of savings we’d stashed away. Recovery dragged on for a couple of grueling years. And just as I started seeing light at the end of the tunnel, wham—diabetes and cancer showed up uninvited.

We hit rock bottom, folks—straight-up homeless. Amid all the global mayhem, those rent increases and even with COVID slamming our shop doors shut, we still owed for rent, utilities, the works. We snagged one of those government loans to keep our heads above water—yep, and we’re on the hook to repay every cent.

We turned the store into our temporary digs for a while, but insurance regs booted us out. God bless ‘em, one of our kids welcomed us in with open arms—it was a lifesaver, truly—but at our age, it stung with humiliation. We scraped together enough to rent a spot temporarily, hanging on by a thread, and now—hold the applause—this week we sealed the deal on an older house that could use some love and elbow grease. But it’s ours! Ours to renovate, to fill with laughter and new stories, and to proudly call home.

After countless prayers, we’re still hustling at the store—check us out at Facebook.com/therealmccoyantiquevendormarket. BUT… in the midst of building a website and dropping my first ebook, my Facebook page got deactivated out of nowhere. It’s been a whole month, and we’re still battling to get it back online. Never a dull moment in the wild world of small business!