Starting Fresh with an Old Friend

The start of a new year has a way of nudging us toward reflection. This year began with an unexpected twist: the chance to reconnect with an old friend I hadn’t seen in years.

He was visiting from Washington, and though time and distance had kept us apart, sitting together again felt like picking up a conversation that had only paused. We talked about how life had changed—new hobbies like overlanding and painting miniatures, the way my career has evolved into coding and how I’ve been finding joy in learning something new, and the paths we’ve taken with family or, in some cases, without.

The conversation was easy, full of shared stories and quiet understanding. It reminded me how grounding it can be to reconnect, to step outside the blur of daily life and revisit the relationships that shaped us. Starting the year this way felt like a small but meaningful reminder to focus on what matters most—connection, growth, and the people who make life richer.

Here’s to a year of moments like this, where the pace slows just enough to notice what really matters and to appreciate the paths that brought us here.