The worst year of our lives. At least of mine.

I don’t want to remember 2024. I want it to be over. There’s a decent chance 2025 will be worse, but we have nothing to gain by clinging to its predecessor. Let midnight come, then let’s get on with it.
~ Timothy Noah, New Republic, December 31, 2024

Oh, my fu--ing god, good riddance to 2024, which has been, as far as I'm concerned, the worst year in recent memory for America (including for basic American decency), as well as for world democracy -- in addition to being the worst year ever for me personally. For me this has been a year of profound losses, some of which I am not yet ready to write about publicly. Suffice it to say for now that for the first time in my life, I feel like a... survivor. Because that is what I am.

Still, I'm old enough to know that the end of one year and the beginning of a new one does not automatically mean a fresh new beginning. As I noted in a Christmas Eve post I wrote seven years ago, with the exception of mayhem committed by bad actors who plan their atrocities around holidays or other special dates, the shit that happens has absolutely no regard for the calendar. Moreover, 2024's exit brings us that much closer to the second coronation of King DonOld, so there's that.

Still...I haven't given up, and I have no intention of doing so. Regarding the collective malaise, we resisted eight years ago and are simply going to have to resist harder this time around. There are still causes and people worth fighting for, and we gotta do it.

As for my personal dramas, I am stumbling through them the best I can, my dark path brightened immeasurably by the support of dear friends. Y'all know who you are.

For now, I'm signing off until next year, which for me is just a few hours away, and depending upon where you are on the planet, it may already be next year for you. I hope 2025 is as good a year as possible for you. I even dare to hope that those of us who are facing the new year with trepidation actually experience some pleasant surprises for a change. Hey, it could happen.

So as Timothy Noah at New Republic said in his eulogy for 2024, "Let midnight come, then let’s get on with it."

Thank you for visiting my Whirled, and I'll see you again soon.

Before you leave...
While money cannot make some personal nightmares go away, it can make them far easier to bear. Now more than ever, donations are urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to do it:

• New: Venmo -- username @Connie-Schmidt-42. Here is a direct link to the Venmo page.
• New: PayPal -- Here is a direct link to my PayPal page.
• Old but still good: You can click on the "Donate" icon that currently appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account of my husband, RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately goes to the same place.

NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please specify that your contribution is a gift, which it is (as opposed to a conventional purchase, for which PayPal deducts a percentage for their fee).

Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this Whirled.