This past holiday season was a bit harder than others. I said goodbye to the year that ended and welcomed the new one with hope for better days. Some of us made “new year’s resolutions”… promises to ourselves that we don’t intend to keep. More often than not, the new year is a continuation of the previous one: same feelings, same hardships.

January ended (at last!) and with it our 2024 trial. I know some people are expecting a year full of happiness. Maybe it will be sad for others and, for a few of us, it is just another year turning pages of a calendar.

Each person lives their year in a unique way. We realize we are not the same people we were a year ago. We met people who walked with us into the new year… others we had to leave behind. In spite of all the challenges, difficult moments —and the happy ones we can’t get enough of—it all seems worth it.

After the clock struck 12 a little more than a month ago, our wishes for others were the same things we wanted for ourselves… year after year after year.