Oh, 2024, you brought me so much happiness and sadness. You let me have some adventures and brought some life-changing events. So here we go, the year in pictures...
I started the year out in January with a tooth breaking off. That was not how I wanted the year to start...After a lot of swearing and then a few tears, I took this awful photo 😂 It had to have a bridge put in, and it was all fixed within a week. January got better with a sleepover party with the grandkids and visiting three state parks in a day to do the hiking club trails.
February brought brunch with some of my favorite people.
February had me going way out of my comfort zone by taking a pottery class... It was a lot of fun, but I found out I have no talent in pottery-making 😆
March was a lot of nothingness, it was good to have nothing time...
All the grandkids on Easter Sunday.
April brought the MN State Archery Tournament. And another brunch with more of my favorite people.
May was a big month. We had our first camping trip of the year, and I retired!
June came with two more camping trips and a lot of rain! And Rick shooting the MSAA State Target shoot.
In July, we added a new member to our family, a kitten named Rainy. We went to Hines for a family reunion and then went camping at Itasca State Park, where we got a little lost and went for a 13-mile hike.
In August, we competed in the MN Senior Games. Rick shot in archery, and I ran a 5K. We went camping with the family at Lebanon Hills County Park. Larina and Nash came for a 5-day visit and enjoyed fishing and shooting archery. -
In September, I ran a 4-mile fun run, and we had our annual apple pie-making day, went camping one more time, and ran the Nearstrand Big Woods 5K. It was Josie's first-ever race.
October was so rewarding and so, so hard. In October, my Dad died, it was and still is hard. I took a Fall flower arranging class with Christa. I ran a 5K with Amy, Carey, and Jese the next day, I ran my first 10K race with Carey and cheered on Amy and Jese as they ran the half marathon. Rick and I did some hiking in the local parks. I also finished my 2024 miles in 2024 goal on Oct. 30.
November brought a spur-of-the-moment trip to Grand Marais with Christa, just what I needed to reflect on a hard October. We hosted Thanksgiving and ran another 5k.
And finally, we are onto December. We went to a John Denver tribute concert with the MN Orchestra, it made me cry because John Denver makes me think of my Dad, but it was so good. We celebrated Christmas with the kids and Rick and I did a winter hike on Christmas day.
So that is my year in a nutshell. If you made it through all those pictures, congratulations. Believe it or not, I actually eliminated some photos 😆
2024 was a hard year for me. We had a lot of things to be joyful about, but my Dad was always on my mind. I spent way more time with him this year than I had in a long time. Alzheimer's stole so much from him. He missed Mom so much and did not understand why she left him behind. He was so ready to go and be with her, but I was not ready to let him go. So when he died, I was happy for him because he could be with his one true love again. I still can't believe that I lost both my Mom and Dad in less than a year. So, I think of all the joy I've had this year and all the love that surrounds me.
2025 will be a great year.
Sharon
