Great(ish) Things About 2024

 

This definitely has the potential to be a very short post.

A lot of not-great things happened this year. Some of them had global ramifications, others only Baudelaireian. (My spellcheck doesn't know what to do with the word "Baudelaireian." But I like it, and I'm going to keep it.)

We lost a lot of fine, well-known people in 2024. Like, a lot. Maybe not as many as in 2016, which was a bumper crop of sadness as far as losing beloved figures goes, but still a lot. The New York Times has a lengthy, if USA-centric, list on its website, while Wikipedia's is more exhaustive and spans the globe. Obviously former President Jimmy Carter is front of mind today, but I only just found out from the NYT that in September we lost author Nelson DeMille, whose books accompanied me on many a business trip when I just wanted to immerse myself in something with a lot of action, humor, and few life lessons. I enjoyed his writing a lot.

These were not people I knew personally, but they touched my life, and I'm sad they're gone.

On the other hand, good things happened this year, as well. That's where this post might become a little brief, but the fact is there are always flowers among the garbage. Some things were good only in the sense that I choose to accentuate the positive, others were actually fond memories that I'll carry with me for a long while.

I recommend you make yourself a list like this, even if it's difficult. Especially if it's difficult. That's the best reason to do it. Here's mine (in no particular order):

• I saw Precocious Daughter walk the stage to receive her Master's degree. I've always said I can't take much credit for what an awesome person she is, but I fully claim the status of proud mama.
• I saw Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway, just before they both won Tony awards for Merrily We Roll Along. (A bucket list item I didn't even know I had until I checked it off.)
• I watched the total solar eclipse with a crowd of people on top of a parking garage. The moment of totality, along with the awed response of the assembled as daylight disappeared in the middle of the afternoon, made me feel simultaneously part of something huge, and very small and insignificant.
• Two people I know kicked breast cancer's ass, while a third continues to fight the good fight. They're all inspiring, and stronger women than I will ever be. 
• I allowed myself to be re-acquired by a cat, a year after losing two beloved felines two months apart. The lovely Tacocat is sweet and feisty, and a pain in the ass. He gives me somewhere to put my love, because love doesn't do you much good unless you can give it away.
• I drove in a snowstorm. It wasn't fun, and it's not a positive thing per se (except that I survived it). But it gave me a story to tell. Since I'm not particularly good at making up stories, I'm always glad to add a new real-life one to my repertoire.

When all is said and done, we're the sum of our stories. For me, 2024 wasn't exactly an anthology of great literary works. More like a pamphlet with a few interesting pages. Maybe 2025 will be better. Maybe we'll live in interesting times, as the curse goes. But for better or for worse, I plan to stick around and see what happens.

To everyone who has paid me the great compliment of reading this little blog (even if you don't like it, you came by to see me), thank you so much. Have a happy and safe New Year.

P.S. I don't generally make resolutions, because I suck at keeping them and why do that to myself every year? But I do promise my readers monkeys wearing clothes in 2025.