Since 2015, I have written a “Reflecting on 20XX” blog post at the end of almost every year (with just a few exceptions). The last five years in particular I’ve written almost a complete summary of my experiences in each year – this year I don’t really want to. 2025 has been exhausting with a brand new sad or stressful situation ready to pounce on me every couple of months. Right now, I’m seeing in the new year alone for the first time, and I have no desire to go over all the rubbish stuff that happened. However, the good thing about hard times is that they present an opportunity to strengthen your bonds with your friends, whose acts of kindness during unhappy periods will stick with you forever and enhance even the happy times ahead. I wanted to use this blog post as an opportunity to express my appreciation for some of the people who have supported me the most.
Malena, who I have known for three years now, is someone I have jokingly described as being the same soul (as me) inhabiting two separate bodies due to clerical error at the reincarnation department. The similarities in our lived experiences and our perspectives in life are immense – but I am mentioning her here because she has gone out of the way to make time for me, to message me, and call me throughout the year, and especially during rough days. Because our minds work in almost identical ways, every word of comfort and affection that she offers is exactly what I want to hear and I feel exceptionally lucky to have a friend like her in my life.
Sarah and I celebrated ten years of friendship this year and got matching Milky Way Magic Star tattoos to mark the occasion (here’s why). Not only was that a truly wonderful bonding experience, but that tattoo makes me happy every time I look at it. The days I’ve spent with Sarah this year have been some of the years best days overall, because we pivot between joking around and being really silly (“Hey, it’s you,” said Sarah, pointing at a hideous monster made of ginger) to really deep and sentimental reflections on our lives and our friendship. Sarah is just someone who makes things better.
Edward, meanwhile, is Sarah’s partner (so he’s also knocking on the door of ten year’s of friendship) and as the two of them had a child quite recently, it’s meant that I’ve had more one on one time with both of them than in the past. This year I got to spend more time with Edward than ever before, and it’s been absolutely fantastic. A “grumpy” man (to use a word I am sure I have heard him use to describe himself) with a twinkle in his eye and a heart of gold. His compassion and humour are always uplifting and everyone of our days together has left me feeling uplifted. He has the same magic power of making things better as Sarah does.
Finally, Kat is the last person I am going to give their own paragraph (I’ll explain why in a moment), but the way that she listens and offers nurturing insight on pretty much whatever subject I want to talk to her about is, again, something I am extremely grateful now. She’s such an easy person to talk to and someone who’s not just a good listener, but someone who digests everything that you say and then offers helpful and caring responses. We’ve had a lot of delicious dinners together this year (and saw a great adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray) and had some hectic fun-filled times when she’s brought her lovely children into the mix.
These four aren’t the only people I am grateful for by any means – and I wouldn’t want anyone else to feel comparatively under-appreciated. There’s Emilie, who I think I’ve had the pleasure of seeing more of than anybody else in 2025; Lydia, who’s given me lots of things to laugh about and a really cool portrait of myself; Lorena, who I had an incredible weekend in Madrid with; Egan, Christy, and Ben, who I got to spend two weeks in Australia with; Chloe, who I hugged under a magic bridge in Amsterdam; Lily who sends me mean texts all the time, but is secretly as kind as kind can be; Max who I got to be fiancés with for a night (no context forthcoming); Eilidh, who I continue to be grateful to live with – and, honestly, I could go on for quite a while. If I had time, I’d write a paragraph about everyone, but I hope that even those of you who don’t get more than a mere mention in this blog post are aware of your profoud importance to me.
But the reason I want to focus on Malena, Kat, Sarah, and Edward, is because I had such a lovely moment with the four of them (plus Sarah and Edward’s son, Rowan) where, even though they don’t know each other, they were together for one of my annual Christmas meals and they were all getting on, chatting together, playing with Rowan, and I was very moved. I thought that this is a family I have created for myself and having all these people together who have done so much for me was such a wonderful feeling. Just having them there together would have been great on its own, but getting on and connecting – that was magic. Long after the wariness of this year’s troubles has worn off, the warmth of that moment will still be with me. I’m sure it always will be.
Comprehensively, I want to say thank you to: Eilidh, Malena, Kat, Leo, Elissa, Sarah, Edward, Rowan, Rory, Neus, Ben, Egan, Christy, Emilie, Lydia, Amy, Chloe, Davey, Laura, Lauren, Lorette, Lily, Mairi, Christopher, Mia, Stephanie, Hayley, Tasha, Richard, Grace, Max, Melissa, Callum, Oscar, Jess, Jess, David, Isabella, Stacey, Will, George, Lin, Callum, Tonicha, Dalfino, Tom, Sam, Kristen, and my mother. Everyone of you has played your part in making this year better for me, and even though I am welcoming 2026 while alone (aside from the excellent company of Morg, the cat), I’m never truly alone with friends like these. (And as ever, I hope I didn’t forget anyone).
