And so this is Christmas 2024. And what a year it has been! I lost my beloved Soosh in a house fire back in March - an event I still do not think I have processed properly. I also lost most of the book collection I have built up since childhood plus a lot or nostalgic keepsakes, some which has been with me for over half a century. Uninsured, we had to cancel our planned Brusells, Glastonbury and Japan trips to get us at least back on our feet again. It has been a long process and even now the repercussions of the traumatic event have yet to be fully ironed out. Looking back on the first few months of 2024, the only good thing to manifest itself for me for that period of time was my hospital consultant finally put me on my new meds, which I need to be injected with every two weeks. This was a real game-changer for my health, and though it took 4 long years to prescribe me the injections, I am truly grateful to the NHS for allowing me access to this very expensive but miraculous medication. Today, at 58-and-a-half-years old, I have never been so healthy. And on that upbeat note, I think I will close this first part of my lookback on the year that was, and for a couple of weeks still is, 2024…