It's been a really trying few weeks. My husband went to hospital with heart problems two weeks ago and the very next day my Dad was in hospital. A week later, Dad was back in hospital. Yesterday my husband ended up in hospital again with his "dodgy" heart and then today my Dad was back in hospital. To say I haven't had the odd meltdown would be a lie, but today really was the day I lost my shit. Excuse my language.
All I've wanted to do is through in the spatula and say to all my customers, "you know those ordered cakes of yours well you won't be getting them today." But alas no can do. Today was particularly hard. As much as I wanted to be with my Dad in hospital, all I could think of was cranky customers abusing me for not getting their cakes to them on time.
Several years ago, I became quite ill with swine flu and got a secondary infection of pneumonia. I ended up in hospital for weeks and was out of action for a couple of months. This was in the middle of peak wedding season. I could do nothing, literally, nothing. I was hooked up to oxygen machines and it was very serious. My husband bless him, rang all my customers and advised them of the situation. Some were very understandable and compassionate and some were well how do I put it, less than understandable and compassionate. I can obviously understand the frustration that some of those brides felt, but it was a situation out of my control. Everyone was refunded their money, but at the end of the day they were cake less.
Many abusive and irate phone calls were received by my husband, who could do nothing except refer them to other decorators. Long story short, my business suffered from that. Word got around that I was "unreliable" and "she just cancels without notice". It was heartbreaking to say the least, that some people valued their cake more than someones health.
Where am I going, I don't know hehehehe. I suppose all of this has played on my mind over the past 2 weeks, when all I've wanted to do was through in the spatula and tell everyone that their orders were cancelled, but I couldn't. I take my business seriously, but there are advantages to working for someone else.
My husband is back at home, he's ok. They've said he'll live, but I said not before I kill him hehehehe. He's got a history of heart disease, so it's something we live with on a daily basis. It never gets easier, but we always get through it. My Dad, that's another story. We're not sure yet. Which is often the worst. Not knowing. Hopefully we'll get some answers within the next few days. I'm trying not to think the worst, but when "things" are mentioned, it's hard not to go to the worst place. I have my fingers crossed that it's positive news.
As for this weeks orders, no one missed out, and in amongst my meltdowns, tears and heart ache I still managed to finish everyone's orders. It was certainly tough, but being an owner operator there is no alternative. There is no one else that I can call. Not sure why I felt the need to write this, especially today, as it's all so fresh, maybe I just wanted to get it off my chest. There's no real reason. Maybe I just needed to talk.
Today though I'm not feeling very Happy Cakes, it's more like Sad Cakes, Drained Cakes, Emotional Cakes, Heavy Heart Cakes......
4 comments:
Do I feel your pain or what, owner of two companies one cleaning other designer and maker night wear
Bless you Leonie - you are an awesome talent and I love admiring your cakes. Take care and don't be too hard on yourself.
You're the inspiration in everyones life right now. Bad times happen so the good ones are that much better. Hang in there, it gets better.
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