Dizzyingly uncomfortable

Without a doubt, the year 2020 has been the most cut-throat, dizzyingly uncomfortable & challenging period of my life so far.

In a somewhat vicious way, it started nicely with a backcountry skiing trip; amongst friends in the wonderful Kootenays mountain range & remote town of Nelson, BC. Deep snow, high-fives, and good times were had.

It then took a sharp turn in March, when my cofounder in Stamped and I had a major disagreement. Unfortunately, the situation led me to have no other choice than to step down and let the company move forward without me. It’s hard to express in writing how brutal that felt: after more than 3 years of huge sacrifices, non-stop work & mental dedication, I could no longer be part of the journey.

Just to spice things up, the COVID pandemic started to take over the world at the same moment. No need to mention how it took everyone by surprise.

While I was still having an ongoing discussion with Stamped regarding my departure, I suddenly had to tend to a more pressing matter: Florence gave birth to our daughter Flavie on May 3rd. We were now responsible for a small human.

During the next few months, we would not only discover our daughter, but also ourselves as parents, and feel a new kind of love we didn’t suspect existed. Pandemic, stock market crashing, no job, and no idea what to do next; it had no importance whatsoever as long as the three of us were together. Since I now had so much free time, I cooked amazing dishes every night and spent a lot of time with Florence & Flavie. Never would I had this chance if the pandemic and the disagreement with Stamped didn’t happen, for which in a weird way I’m now more than thankful.

Summer & fall were sprinkled with savorous moments like sailing on the Saguenay fjord, making passata with family and enjoying good food amongst friends. Unfortunately, the main thread was taken by Florence’s father’s health declining. Without going into too many details, he had a neurodegenerative disease and was in the last few miles. It’s hard to conceive unless you’ve lived through it, but taking care of a heavily dysfunctional person is a monumental task. The immediate family took turns in helping however they could, and it brought all of us closer as a result.

On October 9th 2020 Yves left us peacefully and without pain. In his last moments, he could see his beloved St-Lawrence river from his hospital window. His friends were there, sailing their yachts and waving their flags as a last farewell.