There are just 3 huge 'world changing' occasions in my 46 years when I can distinctly remember where I was when it happened. The first was when Princess Diana died, the second when the plane hit the first tower on 9/11 and the third, weirdly because I was never a fan, was when I heard Amy Winehouse passed away. Strange that one, and possibly not world changing either, but the point is, there's been very few.
Right now, I'm locked up at home with my three kids and husband and fish, battling to keep my business going, home schooling three (non-compliant kids) soaking up the sun, reading books, exercising for the first time in ages, Skyping and Facetiming friends for the first time, playing bingo and doing quizzes via Zoom (who knew it existed? not me!)......... and all seems strange, abnormal, but relatively enjoyable in April 2020 in the Davies household.
Step outside, turn the news on, check out the internet and the outside world is a different matter. A worldwide terrifying pandemic that has brought most of the world to a standstill. Thousands have lost lives. Ten times that have lost loved ones, some unable to say goodbye. Many more are ill, not knowing if they'll see May 2020 such is the severity of the Covid-19 virus.
A brave army of NHS workers battle the virus each day, putting their own lives on the line to look after those who need them. An even larger army of 'keyworkers' (a now staple word in our everyday vocab) are keeping our nation fed, in communication, clean, safe and so on.......
These are unprecedented times. Times no nation has known the like of before. Not even in centuries past with travesties like the Black Death could we compare what we are going through today, as the world was such a different place.
It's all to easy to forget that behind all the headlines and statistics are real people, real lives. Stories being created daily of a new normal, how life is in Lockdown 2020.
In less than a generation, our kids will be studying our lives now. We are living history; making history each day. (Boris Johnson is really going for it with catching the virus AND becoming a Dad whilst Prime Minister!!) Our lives now really are the history that will be studied by our children and grandchildren.
We might be focussed on what we can magic up for tea with now limited ingredients, wonder how many more times we can watch Trolls World Tour, or worry about whether Grandma is behaving and staying indoors - but the fact is, no matter how trivial we may think all this is, all this information will be picked over, studied and discussed.
Just as our grandmothers had no idea that their drawing on 'pantyhoes' with charcoal up the back of their legs in WW2 would be talked about one day!
It's hard to comprehend the enormity really of how significant this period is and will be in the future.
One thing is for sure though, we have it in our power to give future generations the very best information and accurate records that we can. We owe it to our kids and grandkids to ensure they have the best evidence, anecdotes and keepsakes to give them a clear understanding of what happened and what life was like.
Strangely, this is exactly what this business has become all about in recent weeks. For now, gone are the keepsakes for wedding and parties and instead we are selling out of different ways to save our memories of what is going on around us. Journals, scrapbooks, memory jars, keepsake boxes are by far our most popular products and we feel proud to offer help and guidance to families on how best they can save their mementoes.
Cards, letters, artwork, even an envelope with the specially commissioned frank to celebrate Captain Tom's 100th Birthday will be a fabulous keepsake and an informative piece of evidence about a truly memorable story of these times.
We are delighted to have worked with a special bunch of kids this week who braved the cameras to remind us of some of the highs and lows of these last few weeks and to ask parents to help them save memories and keepsakes. You can view the video here:
We are also really, really proud to offer a terrific range of products giving inspiration to families looking to preserve keepsakes such as journals, scrapbooks and keepsake boxes.