Important info ahead.
Effective Monday, July 12th, Alberta Girl Acres will pause operations as our family moves through the final days of my kids’ dad’s cancer.
I have been trying so hard to plan for this. We hoped we still had months, then we hoped we had weeks, now we hope we have days. Last night we had an emergency event that has made it clear that I need to pause and be completely present for my kids. I also have to prepare my home and property for sale. I have to rehome my precious animals. My heart is breaking in new ways every second of the day.
My partner is one of my dearest friends, and I don’t know what I’ll do without him. We’ve been separated, as close working co-parents, for 11 years. He is still legally my husband, and in this past year especially, I’ve taken my role as spouse seriously. I’ve tried to build my farm up as a refuge for us. A quiet place where the cancer couldn’t reach us. But of course it did.
These past six months I’ve coordinated our families. I’ve been the point person, navigating the best choices for our kids. Calling on grandparents for help. Arranging counselling and therapy for our kids, and carrying them through situations I never expected to face as a parent. I’ve barely kept my head above water through pandemic schooling and spring chaos.
I’m not alone, I have a lot of support, but I am still the primary decision maker. This farm, this business, this family… I run it all solo. I’ve learned to stay focused through the stress, but this is too much. I’m not a machine. I’m not a superhero.
So operations will pause on Monday the 12th. I can’t give a firm date when I’ll return. I’ll keep the webstore open for now, as the sole sales stream to move the flowers. It’s the least demanding process. CSAs will pause. Workshops will pause. Farm visits will pause. The Cut Garden Club will pause. I hope to be back to resume late summer/fall/winter operations. Whatever happens, we will return in full force in 2022, as my business expands into a new partnership.
If you’ve purchased any product or service for the coming weeks, I’m sorry to disappoint you. If you’re new to my business, I’m sorry this is what you’re seeing. It isn’t normally like this. We did expect any of this.
If you’d like to make my job easier, please find your e-receipt and forward it to me with the following subject lines: “CREDIT”: if you’d like to credit your purchase to a future product/service. “DONATE”: if you’d like to donate the amount of your purchase. “REFUND”: if you’d like a refund for your purchase. Please note refunds will not be instantaneous, and will take place over the coming months. But they will be honoured.
Thank you. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I will update when I can.
