2024 started with the death of my mother. While not unexpected, one can probably never properly prepare and “expect” the end of a parent. I am no exception. Having lost my father to cancer back in 2010, and having seen my mother’s decline over the last two years, I felt like I was ready and knew how to handle this inevitability. I have never been so wrong.
When my father died, it hit me immediately. In fact it still hits me. What we didn’t have to deal with at that time was the aftermath of death. The wrapping up of someone’s life. My mother, still healthy at the time, took the reins of my father’s estate. She stayed in their house, his businesses continued running, and as much as life could – it continued. This time, there was no place to laterally move a life. What was left was a home, belongings, and an estate that was now the responsibility of my brother and I.
Fast forward to now – nearly a year later and we are still handling what remains of her estate. Just one storage unit of belongings which we should have handled in the coming month. I don’t know how it will all feel when it is over, but I guess it will be what it will be.
Professionally, after 4 years as Creative Director at Paragon FX Group, I left the company. It was strange having the conversation after helping take a company from concept to profitability. It is like raising a child. And like raising a child you need to know when something will be OK without you, and this year was that time. The split was very amicable, and I still speak to my then-boss/ now-friend there several times a month.
Since leaving Paragon I have taken some time to myself. I needed a break, and I needed solitude to work through how I was feeling about life in general. Having two parents who died relatively young made me want to step back and refocus. I feel like I have, and still am in that process. To do that, however, I needed time – and time is what my exit from Paragon delivered.
I’m not saying the time to myself hasn’t been incredibly productive. I got my third installment of my REST IN PEACE children’s book series completed. “Just A Ghoul In Love,” a monster Valentine’s Day story, is available now. I also really dove into my relationships with Stanford University and StartX this year, mentoring two groups through Stanford’s E145 class, as well as advisory board roles through StartX for the companies THE COLD BREW PROJECT and INK’D GREETINGS – Of which I stayed on board after in an official advisory capacity.
Between the chaos my family was still able to do a bit of travel. I got to explore the island of Kauai, and return to Paris for the first time in over 15 years. I got to rediscover my love of exploration – of picking a direction and just going in it. I got to remember how much I love the beauty of Paris, where things like building doorknobs are so intricately sculpted they would be at home in most art galleries. The combination of beauty and utility in Paris has always amazed me, and it truly is – in my opinion – the most beautiful city on Earth.
All that to say, a year of ups and downs. I am looking at 2025 with fresh eyes, and for the first time in a long time, a renewed hope that I can and will end 2025 in a better place than I have started, both professionally and personally.
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