Here We Go Again. Hello 2025. Please Be Kind!

We made it! One more trip around the sun achieved, but it was a bumpy ride to say the least. Did I achieve everything that I’d set out to do? No, but I haven’t given up on anything yet, and I refuse to let the low points of 2024 influence how I’ll head into 2025.

After I read a post from a friend about her choice of a small word for the year 2025, I decided to select one of my own. My word for 2025 will be PERSEVERE. Persevere is defined as the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition: the action or condition or an instance of persevering : steadfastness. I will persist in my goals, hang in there despite the obstacles, follow through with my intentions, and mostly, I will not surrender to despair, no matter how easy that might seem to be. I will push through the pain, knuckle down to work, and carry on reaching for stars.

I will also accept that there are things happening in this world over which I have no control. The world more closely resembles the mess it did in 1939 than ever. Wars abound, the economy is on the verge of imploding, and misogyny, racism, and all of the ugly faults humanity hid under a thin veneer of civility, those unleased during the pandemic, are alive and well. In the words of a song, “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love,” but it seems that its a commodity that’s sadly lacking all over.

Will it be easy to persevere? Probably not, but I learned a long time ago that nothing worth having comes easy. 2024 had some low points. I lost my mother in February and my arthritis took a huge leap for the worst in March, leaving me with the last nine months of the year pain ridden. I’ve had to make adjustments, including putting in two new bathrooms, and accept that I just can’t do it all. But there is light at the end of the tunnel since I’m scheduled for a right hip replacement in February or March, baring the inevitable delays because of emergencies.

But the year also brought highlights. My grandson started university with the intention of becoming a doctor. He has eight years ahead of him, but he’s smart and determined. My eldest grandaughter will finish her four-year program in pharmacy this spring, and continue with her master’s, while my next oldest grandaughter with start her apprenticeship as a HVAC technician and my youngest granddaughter will go away to school to be an electrical engineering technician. So much hope for the future. I just have to believe there will be one.

I was able to travel a bit. In January, we went on a Caribbean cruise and enjoyed some lovely heat–something I will truly miss this year. In early June, we went to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island where we met up for a quick visit with old friends, and the Maggies, the Magdelene Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and finished the trip with an overnight stay in Quebec City. In July, I made the move from a cane to a walker. We did get to the Highland Games in Maxville and then spent a few days in Kingston. The walker does make walking easier. A few weeks later, we traveled to Alexandria Bay, NY, and connected with friends we’d met the previous summer when they took us out on their boat. Unfortunately, getting in and out of a boat wasn’t on my can-do list, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do so in the future. In late September, we went toLake Placid, NY, another of our favorite places to visit. The colors were gorgeous, the people friendly, and the food delicious and plentiful. Finally, after Christmas, we took our son home to Kingston again and spent a couple of nights in the newly renovated Marriot near City Hall. Once again, we visited our favorite stops although we had to make alterations, but I did make it. Given the political climate in the US, I’m not sure we’ll be visiting there in the near future, but Canada has lovely places to see.

In terms of my writing, I managed to publish three books this year–Love at the Pickleback, Guarding her Heart, and A Case of Mistaken Identity. I hit a roadblock with Listen to the Stones and will be revising it as I work on And Justice For All, a romance suspense to be released in June. The post-surgery recovery time will take its toll I’m sure, but I’m hoping to be able to do A to Z 2025. I plan to write a book that month and post scenes from it each day, another idea I stole from last year’s participants.

So, long story short. I will persevere. Wishing you all the best for 2025. It won’t be easy, but we’ll get through it.