I wanted to get to the end of 2024 having survived. At the end of 2023, we had relocated over 1900 miles to a new state, my sister had passed away from brain cancer, my father in law had passed away suddenly, my husband was unemployed. The Christmas season last year was a mind-numbing fog. This year, my husband has a wonderful job, we are settled into our new state, our kids are now looking for their own places. and although the loss of our loved ones is still painful, we can still smile.