At its face, 2024 was not the best year ever. Let’s run down the awfulness:
- January: leaks appear in my apartment… again.
- February: I get diagnosed with arthritis and patellar tendinitis.
- March: Dad passes away.
- June: My motor scooter was stolen.
- July: I was physically threatened at my home skating rink.
But honestly, despite all of these events – and in some ways because of them – 2024 was still a pretty great year. Let’s break it down.
Problems Money Can Solve
Someone said “You are fortunate if you have problems that money can solve.” While finding water leaking into your apartment and having your motor scooter stolen definitely suck, both were reminders to me that those are relatively solvable problems if you have the means.
Fortunately, my apartment building has a management company that so far has been responsible about dealing with maintenance issues. So a leaking ceiling was annoying, but the contractors hired to fix it dealt with the issue quickly and with little disruption to my life.
Similarly, getting my motor scooter stolen, after 11 years of enjoying her, was excruciating at the moment. I left her in a downtown parking spot for 30 minutes and she was gone when I returned.
But after the shock, I remembered that this was not the end of the world. Losing one means of transportation would not cause a huge disruption to my way of life, my ability to work, or even to socialize. I had an abundance of other transportation options afforded me by living in a modern city – bicycle, public transit, rideshare services, walking, renting a car, etc.
And my local scooter shop was able to hook me up with an almost new replacement motor scooter for not too much money. My new scooter is matte black and so much fun to drive. I’ve named her “Chococat.”
Prioritizing Health and Self-care
Getting diagnosed with patellar tendinitis (and possibly mild arthritis), was a big bummer. But it was also a relief.
I finally had a name for all the things I was experiencing in my body over the past few months – increased fatigue while doing every day activities like walking and climbing stairs, knee pain after long skate sessions, and soreness around my upper legs constantly.
Now that I knew what was the likely cause of all these issues, I could work with medical professionals to deal with, if not totally cure, them.
So in February, I started a regime of physical therapy exercises. While not that fun, they weren’t horrible. I paired the PT with watching my favorite YouTube channels, so it was like a nice reward in the morning and evening.
I was told to anticipate that it would take a long time to notice any results. And it did take many months before I started feeling any improvement at all. But ten months in, I definitely feel stronger and feel much less pain in my knees and legs than last year. And I was able to hike the 18-mile SF Crosstown Trail twice in 2024!
Dealing with Bullies
The second worst thing to happen in 2024 was being verbally assaulted and physically threatened at my home skating rink. The Sixth Avenue Skating Place for the past four years has been my refuge, my happy place, and where I’ve found a loving community of friends. So to be assaulted by a leader in our community and then feel unsafe at my own skating rink has been a really shitty experience.
But on the other hand, it has led to some really positive outcomes – scores of folks have rallied around me and others who were victimized, a core group of skaters have come together to protect each other and the scene from future assaults, and the person who assaulted me has been put on notice that folks won’t put up with his nonsense anymore.
It often takes something terrible happening for you to find out who your friends and allies really are. It feels awesome knowing that folks have my back.
A Good Death
Losing my dad this March to cancer was rough. Seeing this strong, smart, hard-working man turn into a bed-ridden, frail person was terrible to witness.
But I was also so inspired by my dad’s courage in the face of this terrible, fatal illness. He did his best to make peace with his loved ones, put his affairs in order, and provide for those he was leaving behind. He made the hardest choice of all – electing to end his own life instead of waiting for the cancer to totally debilitate him.
Honestly, his passing was really beautiful, and happened in the most poetic, profound way possible. I hope to be as brave as him when my time comes.
To sum up, this year I dealt with deep loss, physical pain, toxic individuals, and theft. All of which sucked. But it was also a reminder of all the incredible blessings I have – my community, my family, my health, my awesome job, my comfortable home in the city that I love.
I feel so blessed to get to live this life.
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