When it came time to write the traditional Family Christmas letter, I was stuck. After 61 blog posts, was there anything new to say?

So I took a deep breath and re-read every post, beginning to end, Minnesota to Morocco. While there wasn’t much to be added, there was an arc, a development or evolution along the winding path. That could be worth exploring.

I came up with the idea of telling the story in the form of 12 postcards; adopting, and hopefully subverting, the abrupt phrasing and crammed shallow soundbites of that style. But what came out felt just like that - a choppy, shallow, Look At Me compilation that didn’t tell a story. 

Throwing away several hours of work to start over is Hard. “Maybe it’s good enough.” “Maybe it’s not worth it.” “Maybe I can’t make it any better.” But as time passed and I couldn’t bring myself to send it out nor throw it away, I took a big breath and asked myself what I really wanted to say each month, often pulling ideas and wording straight out of blog posts.

So, here’s the much-sweated-over look back on a 2024 that was as fabulous as it was privileged, spanning 4 continents (5 if Central America counts) and 15 countries. Thank you for sharing this journey with us.

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