Looking Back on 2024 – It Was a Year of Great Change

It’s been a long time since I sat down at my computer to pen a post. Have you forgotten about my blog? I almost did. So much has happened in my life the past six months. Now that I’ve had a chance to stop, breathe and be, I’m ready to write again, ready to share my most memorable moments of 2024.

Looking Back on 2024 – It Was a Year of Great Change

Memorable merger

It was a year ago this week that my BF E and I decided to purchase a house together.

My BF E and I merged households this year

“Do you want to look at that house in the 55+ community?” said E on a cold December morning before we were set to leave for our 2024 snowbird stays in Florida. A friend who had lived in the community told me that a house was going up for sale. I called the owners, we went to see it, and left smiling.

It had everything we wanted – a master bedroom and bath on the first floor, a finished lower level and a loft and second bedroom upstairs for our blended set of grown children, grandkids and grandpups to visit. It had two offices – one for E and one for me. It had an upper deck and lower patio with views of the woods. It was located in an area with a prestigious university, near parks and hiking paths, good restaurants and surrounded by charming small towns. Most of all it came with a price tag we could afford.

Our new together home

Could we, should we, would we merge our households?

There were plusses: We had been dating for more than two years; we love each other and we wanted to spend more time together. We were tired of the hour drive between our respective homes. We both agreed that we weren’t getting any younger.

The minuses: We would be further away from our friends. Our healthcare might have to change but there were plenty of good doctors nearby and our current docs were only an hour away in each direction. We had both been living on our own for many years and were used to being independent – 17 for me and 15 for E – but we didn’t want to live alone anymore.

Walking paths near our new house were appealing

“Let’s sleep on it,” I said. So we did.

The next morning we were still smiling. The plusses won out. We knew it was the right thing to do so we made a bid on the house and the rest is not his-tory or her-story — from that day forward it became our-story.

Memorable move

Selling a home isn’t for the faint of heart, neither is buying a new one — especially when you’re in your sixties and seventies. When we returned from Florida, we prepped our houses for sale. My townhome sold in less than a month, E’s house took longer.

We hired C, our decorator to help us combine furniture, artwork, and accessories. C was a great addition to the team and made the transition so much easier. We also hired a contractor to renovate the kitchen, baths and do other improvements. We closed on the house in late June; moved in July; and started renos in September.

A bright white kitchen begins to emerge from our renovation

The good news is that everything was complete by Thanksgiving for our visitors. What was just a house 10 months ago turned into our beautiful new home filled with family, friends and all their pups. It was for sure a 2024 holiday weekend to remember.

Becoming a grandma tops memorable moments of 2024

“You’re going to be a grandma,” said my son D and DIL S when they called on New Year’s Day 2024. I shrieked with joy. I was so excited.

In August, my granddaughter Z was born. I flew out to California. I couldn’t wait to meet her. I held her in my arms and I was filled with Grammi love. I was reminded of that feeling when I read Margaret Renkl’s Op-Ed in The New York Times today, “How Babies Teach Us to Be Human.” 

My new title is Grammi Judi

Margaret says: “This is what babies do: They make us love them. No matter how closed our hearts, no matter how battered and crusted over with scars, along comes a baby and the carapace softens. A baby fills us with more love than we knew we were capable of feeling. Again and again, we scoop the baby up and hold it close to us, feeling its small head nestle into the small hollow above our own collarbone.

Holding my granddaughter brought pure joy

..Just when its exhausted parents have reached the edge of sleepless sanity and are now poised to tumble into the abyss, the baby looks into their eyes and breaks into a gummy smile. No one has ever smiled at them with such pure, unadulterated love as this baby is smiling now.

..Then, too, there’s the way babies turn us into protectors, the way they reach straight for the place in us where we are our tenderest and also our strongest. In their vulnerability, they engage in us such a primal need to protect them that we cannot believe our own fierceness.”

I’m in learning mode about new toys and tools for today’s babes

“You’ll want to see your granddaughter every few months,” said my fellow Grammi friends. That’s me. I already have a flight to California scheduled for January 2025.

Ending the year in balance

This year my inspirational word was balance. Did I balance everything with ease? Likely not. Although I’ve always been told that I’m a superb juggler — able to balance many projects and people at the same time.

Good news is that while I’ve recently been diagnosed with osteoporosis (will be dealing with that disease in 2025 and yes the endo doc says I will need to take meds), at 66, I’m grateful that I’m still a strong woman — able to balance not only on two feet but also on one — thanks to my pilates and yoga practices.

Balance was my inspirational word for 2024

2024 will go down as a year of great personal change. At this age, I truly believe change is a constant in life. What about you?

For now, I’m ready to relax. And I’m looking forward to shoveling as much sunshine as I can get for the next several months in Flo-ree-da.

Ready to shovel sunshine for winter 2025 in Flo-ree-da

Thank you dear readers for sticking with me, your support on my post 50 and now post 60 journey means the world to me. I wish you a festive holiday season and happy and healthy new year.

Hope to see you back for more fun in 2025.

Judi