7 min
This is a story I haven't shared with anyone until now.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, my father fell seriously ill, and the doctors gave him little chance of survival - not once, but twice. Families were far from Lebanon, where he was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator. In this challenging time, my two brothers and I shouldered the responsibility of managing his affairs on a daily basis. This was in addition to my own pursuits, including job hunting, freelancing, navigating life in confinement, and embracing a remote lifestyle. To add to the complexity, I was in the process of closing down my company, ExJewel AI, a venture I had started on the very day COVID-19 swept across the world.
It was, without a doubt, the most intricate product management role I had ever undertaken, and I was only 25 years old. The "product" was my dad, and the roundtable discussions included my two brothers, my mom, and me.
Normally, these situations arise when you're in your 50s and your parents are in their 80s or 90s, and you've already meticulously planned for such scenarios. However, as young entrepreneurs, we naturally turned to Trello. We created a detailed task list that covered every aspect of my dad's condition.
This includedmanaging various health-related subcategories, addressing sensitive family matters, negotiating with 13 irate Indian suppliers, navigating Lebanese corruption, optimizing the efficiency of my company, closing one office while renovating another into a home-office, managing regular and one-time expenses for the building's private utilities, handling the sale of cars and boats, liaising with lawyers, hiring helpers and drivers, overseeing the remaining business activities, and coordinating the schedule for those taking care of my dad, among numerous other responsibilities
My dad's life was essentially condensed into a Trello board, with complex tasks spanning five continents, each with its own set of requirements, individuals involved, deadlines, and milestones.
We were fortunate when things worked in our favor, found allies when situations deteriorated, and relied on ourselves when challenges grew more intricate than we had initially anticipated. We had to make critical decisions on my dad's behalf while he fluctuated between improvement and decline. Let's not forget the external factors that only added to the complexity - a global pandemic that froze the world for a year and a half.
In the end, the 'product' AKA my dad, was delivered on time. My dad's health is steadily improving, and he's grateful for the two chances he had to prove he's worth staying with us. After numerous ups and downs, failures and successes, everyone is, in a way, content with the outcome.
The moral of this story is that life often throws us curveballs we're not fully prepared for. You'll discover along the way that the people closest to you can be counted on one hand, and experiences, no matter how challenging, ultimately shape you for the better.
Here's to all the family Trellos 🫠!