I don’t think I’m quite as sad-sounding as that AI-generated guy is, but it still has a note of truth to it, and it made me giggle, so it’s the soundtrack for this post. Also, side note: Did anybody else hear that Auld Lang Syne song as a kid and think “What? Old Anxiety?” And did they also wonder why we should forget all our acquaintances? I know I’m not completely alone, but I wonder how common that is. My confusion got even deeper when my mom started learning sign language to work with some of the kids she worked with, so I started to wonder if it was “Old Lang Sign.” Nope. That one’s probably weirder.
The holidays were a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it was great to get home and see family. It’s nice to see how my folks are doing, and the nephews are adorable as always. Kliks is a smart little guy as always, and Bricks is more talkative and involved in things. Sukie has a wicked imagination and loves to find ways to either make us laugh or make us go “What the heck?” He got a ukulele and was coming up with all kinds of random things to put in songs. I think the weirdest line he came up with was “I’ll use your fingernails as counterfeit teeth.”
On the less awesome side, I somehow picked up a horrible stomach virus that decided to pop up and say hi in the wee hours of Christmas morning. The symptoms reminded me of the flu of 2009 that flattened both of us, the one that made me turn our old lobby into a great mess. So, while everyone else was enjoying Christmas, I was sipping Ginger Ale, not even aware of time passing.
The next day, although I was upright, I was not my best. But at least I got to see the kids playing with all the toys, and I got to hear more attempts to play the ukulele. Everyone else seemed fine, which was a relief, since the house has two bathrooms, but with 11 people needing them urgently, it could be a long day.
Friday, as we prepared to leave, I was feeling pretty good, but also wondering what got me if no one else got it. Then I discovered that it had spread to my parents. Oh no! My mom, by some sheer force of will, drove us to the train, but when she got home, she was down again. I’m really happy that my brother agreed to go with her in case she needed a backup driver.
And this was when we all started going down, one after the other. Damn you, Vincent, you were not on the guest list. Poor Steve made it home before all the hell broke loose, but juuuust barely.
So here we are, kissing goodbye to another year and wondering how we got to this point. What can I say about 2024? Hmmm. On a personal level, it was a lot of ups and downs and uncertainty, but for the most part, things worked out ok, even though the ride was a nail-biting one. And some things are still working their way to being ok, so the ride isn’t over. My dad’s health improved and my mom is still doing pretty well. Steve’s grandpa seems to be maintaining at a better spot than he was in the summer. That was a rough summer of holding our breaths and praying. We’re still praying, but it doesn’t feel quite so terrifying…right now. I got to have some fun with friends, and throw a nice little retirement party for Chuck from GDB. That was fun. And we’re starting to go out to restaurants and enjoy ourselves a little bit more.
But it didn’t all turn out ok. One of my uncle’s is no longer with us. We knew he was sick, but I didn’t expect the end to come so soon.
I don’t know what to say about the world. I can’t say it’s gotten better. It feels like it’s gotten worse, but maybe there have been some small improvements. Maybe I just miss them in all the bad news.
I started writing this post on New Year’s Eve, and I’m still writing it today. In the meantime, I’ve heard from a lot of our friends, and many of them are struggling with their own troubles. It seems like it’s not a good time for too many of us. I hope that can improve this year, but there are certainly no guarantees. Yeah, about that. Now one of Steve’s uncles has passed away. We weren’t close to him, but still. There’s another bit of bad news to add to the pile.
Like I said at the beginning of the last few years, I’m going to try and hoover what good I can out of each year and hold on to it. I have no great ambitions, just to survive as unscathed as possible. Happy 2025, everyone!
Oh yeah, totally did the “old anxiety” thing too, complete with the bit about forgetting acquaintances. Was very confused about why I’d been around for years and still new the same people.
The Christmas was lots of fun other than the unwelcome gift, which I’m still trying to shake almost a week later. It suuuuuuucks! I’m much better than I was, but still feeling pretty crappy. And when you say I barely made it home before things got really bad, you’re not kidding. If we had to go one more stop on that train, I don’t think I would have made it. It was getting hard not to yolf whenever I would smell food or when the train rocked from side to side, and getting into that taxi van at the end damn near killed me. Oh, and I was freezing for like half the trip. Your monkey’s paw thing came to mind when we had to move closer to that door. I wanted fresh air, but not fresh air from the friggin Arctic!
I probably have more to say, but between doing extremely hard things like cooking, eating and now stringing words together and typing them into sentences, I’m zapped again.
Also: “Visit my trusted website, Fraud.com. Give us your bank card for safety.”
The kid is 8 and he’s already got scams figured out better than most adults. He’s also the songwriting voice of a generation.
And his other trusted website, Don’tBeSuspicious.com. He’s 8 and knows how to spell suspicious.
I forgot to mention this, but back in 2009 when we had a similar bug, everyone kept saying “I’m glad I got my flu shot” as if it was going to protect them from this bug. I can say now that it does not guarantee you will be shielded from this one. Steve and I had our flu shots and still went down hard. I’m not blaming the flu shot, just those people who thought they were safe.