As I write this, on the cusp of the New Year, my focus is inevitably split: pulled back to the events of the previous 12 months and hoisted forward to whatever is to come.
Much like Ebeneezer Scrooge, the anti-hero of Dickens’ atmospheric classic tale, A Christmas Carol, I am haunted by the spectres of the past, present, and future—albeit in a less literary (and, hopefully, less dramatic) fashion.
Casting my mind back over 2024, I am conscious of a rainbow of emotions as I contemplate the events that shaped the year.
The entire deck of cards is laid out before me now, each one showing its face, a colourful testament to the weeks and months of joy, despair, patience, anger, laughter, and tears of ordinary lives.
There is much for which to be thankful, I know, and this time of transition is not the occasion for wallowing in maudlin reminiscences, so I shall endeavour to remain cheerful as I summarise a year in the life of my family.
My husband, newly qualified as a bus driver as the year turned, found job satisfaction for the first time in a long time, settling into this role with few hiccups and returning home after the vast majority of shifts with a spring in his step and a weight lifted off his shoulders.
His enthusiastic reports of life on the buses fired our young son’s imagination and opened up our world in an unexpected way, granting my son and myself the opportunity and eagerness to hop aboard and take off on weekend adventures; Saturdays have never been so appealing.
Our elder daughter, now fully immersed in the second year of her London escapades, was awarded a permanent contract with her employer in the spring and goes from strength to strength in the workplace.
Moreover, she and her flatmates (temporarily, our elder son numbered among the two) acquired a kitten in the summer: this new addition to the household is a gorgeous, wilful, and hilarious scat-cat whose irascible antics have us all alternatively groaning and giggling.
Alas, their Christmas tree took the brunt of her ferocious energy, toppling over within minutes of decoration, to the detriment of the lights strung about its evergreen branches (my daughter’s reflexive response—an enquiry whether anyone in the family could offer the naughty kitten a good home—was, I believe, mostly in jest…).
Nevertheless, the catapulting (see what I did there?) of this scrap of energy into our lives has furnished me with my very first grand-kitten—an unalloyed joy.
Our younger daughter, happily ensconced in her independence in Exeter, with a fine flat, great friends, and a job that suits her, has of late found herself caught by the tender tendrils of a burgeoning relationship; we shall see what transpires, but she has a glow about her that is most becoming.
Our elder son completed his diploma in musical theatre in the summer and has, at present, returned to the bosom of his family after a brief but dazzling dalliance with the bright lights of the big city.
His re-entry into the parental sphere has necessitated some readjustment (my husband’s tolerance of vegetarian food, gleefully curtailed in July, has made a reluctant reappearance), but I am thrilled to have my TV partner back in situ.
Our younger son left primary school behind this year and has plunged headlong into his secondary school life, joining the ensemble cast for the winter musical and making a (mostly) favourable impression on his teachers, as well as taking up learning a musical instrument.
It’s early days, but I can glean, amongst the admittedly sometimes squeaky notes, signs of potential—if he can be persuaded to maintain (and, ideally—though highly doubtfully—increase) practicing—or is that just the optimistic imagining of a mother’s bias?
My own year was dominated by my dad’s deteriorating health, but I have never been more glad to be on hand or more sad that my attentions are no longer required.
And so the new year slides into view, revealing a fresh deck of cards with its contents concealed and its light and shade shrouded from view.
I can only pray that whatever hands my family is dealt, we play them with kindness, generosity, dignity, courage, and fairness. And I hope for the same for you. Happy New Year.