This is the story of my personal journey to hell.

I went there and back twice in the last year.

I know what you are going to say, “How were you able to travel during Covid with all of the

restrictions placed on the boarders?” Well funny thing that… Apparently, Hell has no border,

and is open to anyone, at any time. You don’t even need a passport. For that matter, you

won’t need a change of clothes or even a wallet, so packing is easy. All you need to

have a few fun filled days visiting Satan’s playground, is to almost die.

I guess on my first trip there I didn’t give myself enough time to enjoy all the magic that Hell has to offer so a little shy of the one year anniversary of my first visit I went back for seconds, you know, to really take it all in!! As it turns out, I am not a fan after all.

My pancreas on the other hand had other ideas. You see, I never really wanted to

go anywhere. Given the pandemic was in full rage mode, I thought it best to avoid that beast and stay close to home. My pancreas, however, was bored and decided it couldn’t wait to travel any longer!!! So, it got angry and decided that a pancreatic attack was in order and that would surely warrant a trip;

and it did.

Twice!!

Oh, right Covid, that beast. Well as I mentioned, Covid was in full on rage mode during my first visit to Hell, and it was having such a good time running amok here on earth, that it decided to stick around for my second visit to hell and wouldn’t you know it, that bugger still won’t leave us alone. Sometimes I have wondered whether Covid came form hell and my trip there was designed to make room for it to visit us here. Then I realize that can’t be true. I mean, the shear fact that Donald Trump was president of the United States surely refutes that logic, so I am off the hook there. It did, however, get me thinking about the changes this pandemic has meant to our existence here and had me reflect on what I wanted my remaining time here to look like. Working in hospitality, specifically in the restaurant business, we endured some crushing defeats and un-recoverable losses due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Some of us remain to tell our stories while others simply did not survive.

The following is a documentation of my personal trip to hell having survived 2 pancreatic attacks and twice being close to death. The loss of my livelihood, my career, my professional drive, and my passion for food and beverage as well as my journey to recovery and my road forward.