On this sunny Sunday, I want to summarize a bit of my past few days behind the scenes. I returned from vacation on the 18th; my destination was Cayo Coco. I had already been to Cuba, for those who don't know. The beaches of Cuba will always be the most wonderful I've ever seen: warm, crystal-clear water and white sand. It would take a multi-page blog to tell you many things, between the contrast of the beauty and the poverty and dictatorship of a country. I think it's not worth it, and it's best to just remember the beauty of the beaches and its people!
Back to work with the north all in flames, a horror. Friends losing their homes, others hurt, helping friends. After a week of escaping reality, we return with the country burning 😞.
But since life doesn't stop, going back to work is a reality; it's time to roll up our sleeves and fight! Joaninha is on vacation, so I'm taking over her online duties. I try to create content, go to the store to assist some clients, and try to visit suppliers to find new things. You can't imagine, it's run, run, run, it seems easy…
Amidst all this, there's a detail I haven't told you yet, and it's affecting me very emotionally... My little dog, Valentina, whom many of you know, is sick 😞. My companion for 13 years, she's currently waiting for her time, and I feel completely destroyed just thinking that I'm losing her and will lose her... I love her so much. I'm always rushing around; I seem disconnected, but even I didn't imagine the love I had for her... She has a very advanced tumor; it started with a lump on her neck... Not even the vets know how she's still alive and eating... It's been 2 months since we found out, and so every day we live with enormous anxiety, a horrible fear, like, will she be okay today, will she eat, if she's quieter I go check if she's breathing. Anyway, I think she knows that we, and I especially, despite knowing she's sick, I'm not ready to lose her... She sleeps with us. I wake up several times to check if she's okay, and I'm grateful every morning when I wake up and she's there looking at me... She no longer runs like she used to, and she can't give those cuddles, but she looks as if to say, I'm still here!
Tininha comes to work with us every day; since she's small, she doesn't bother anyone, she keeps us company and isn't alone! Girls, there isn't a day I don't cry, even now as I'm writing, I can't hold back the tears. It's an endless love that will soon leave me, and I'm not ready 😞.
That's why you have no idea the weight you carry in my life. On Wednesday, when you left that compliment, it had been such a bad day for me, one of those days when everything seems bleak, and you even doubt yourself whether you're doing your job well, like, have people gotten tired of me, is my clothing no longer cool, am I becoming outdated on the internet??? Doubts arise from everywhere, and suddenly you do a live broadcast where you manage to convey to people the love with which you do your work, and on the other side, someone feels that... It was so good, it was like the serum I needed for the rest of the week; you are wonderful, no doubt, thank you! 🙏
Yesterday, Saturday, was very special. An online client from Coimbra, whom we've known since the pandemic, came to visit us, and I felt enveloped in a bubble of love, a store full of incredible clients and friends, good energy, beautiful people... it was so good, so good... 🙏
I am a person of faith; I believe in God and I believe that I truly have a little star accompanying me because almost always in less good moments of my life when I feel like throwing in the towel, a greater force, who knows from where, comes and manages to turn the game around!
Thank you to all, especially this week to Miss Vera, Miss Alexandrina, and Miss Lina Silva, who were undoubtedly so, so important to me this week 🩷
I want to end this already long conversation by saying that not everything is as it appears in front of the cameras; behind the cameras, we are normal people, and often with problems, and you on the other side help us forget 🩷
Now I'm going to finish my cleaning because Sunday is my cleaning day so I can sit a little on the couch with my Valentina afterward and enjoy the time she has left, giving her all our love 🩷
Thank you very much 🙏
A big kiss to your hearts
With Love
Carla Valente
