2024 in Review

And Good Wishes for 2025!

Dear Friend,

Paul and I began Christmas day with my sister’s family and my mom, spent the afternoon with Paul’s parents and his brother’s family, then made a quick stop to feed our friends’ cat and a pit stop at home before heading back to my sister’s for an evening meal and games.

With driving and logistics, it was a full day

And a perfect day.

Family. More Family. Friends. Nice weather. A working car to carry us over the roads. Good food everywhere. Thoughtful gifts. A safe home to come back to at the end of the day. Perfect.

In 2024, Paul spent hours on the phone untangling our convoluted medical care system on behalf of his parents, and driving to Northridge to take them to various appointments. These tasks are a privilege, because we have both of his parents alive and in our lives. The unexpected loss of my sister-in-law’s father at the beginning of 2024 makes us extra-aware of how lucky we are to end the year with my mom healthy and here with us in Los Angeles for the winter and with Paul’s parents on Christmas day — eating, watching our five-year old nephew tear open his presents, laughing during a game of Pie-in-Face.

In 2024, thousands of independent workers in the entertainment sector —including many of our friends—were out of work, so it’s not surprising that we experienced some frustration and disappointments in this arena. Yet Paul and I each found off-the-beaten-path gigs that were engaging and gave us opportunities to learn new skills (Paul can use AI to write code in python! I can lay out a book Pages!) and we have lived to fight another year.

Paul travelled to Nashville to help with his friend’s short action film, and also made it back into the director’s chair after a long hiatus, traveling to Atlanta to direct “Teddy’s Service,” written and produced by one of our most talented friends. He’ll be working with his editor in January.

I finished my first film as a writer / director, ”Bunny,” and am turning my attention to submitting to film festivals, and making posters and a trailer and a website. I was happy to return to Mattel for their spring and fall sales meetings, and enjoyed editing a family history book for a client. My output of fiction or screenplays was not great, though I did keep up with my project of writing a bi-monthly letter about writing and life.

Paul and I are grateful for the time we got to share with friends throughout the year. We’re also thrilled to have no dramatic health news to report.

I closed out 2024 by taking a hike with a friend during the day, and working a jigsaw puzzle with my mom in the evening. Another perfect day.

2025, for so many reasons, feels exceedingly uncertain, and it’s impossible to predict in what ways the world and our lives could be different in another year. We’re appreciating these perfect days while they last, and hope that you are too.

Wishing you peace and health and safety and luck in the new year,

Barrington