Hello 2025, Get The F*@% Out 2024

At 11:55pm on December 31, 2024, the alarm went off on my phone. I hopped up and opened the front and back doors to my house, based on an Irish tradition I had read about earlier that day. I am not Irish and not really superstitious—I’ve never eaten the traditional good luck meal until this year—but I was eager to say a firm goodbye to 2024.

I realize what I am getting ready to say can be perceived as privileged, out-of-touch, or selfish, but 2024 was the worst year of my life. I know that many, many people had a much worse year than me, and that I am lucky to be alive and to still have a home after Hurricane Helene washed away so many. I do not know anyone personally that passed away in the storm, I have my health, and I live in Asheville, a place that I have loved calling home for more than 10 years.

But our 1,000-year-flood brought and continues to bring devastation. A friend just posted this morning that she just drove for the first time through Swannanoa—an adjacent small city that got hit hardest residentially of almost anywhere in the path of the storm—and burst into tears. THREE MONTHS POST STORM. Yes, we are still living in a disaster zone, with triggers everywhere and an economy that is at a standstill.

I will admit, I don’t know if I’ve ever been as excited to close the door on a year as 2024. And while it’s difficult for me to muster and maintain excitement for 2025 when so much is still so ugly and uncertain, I am grateful and hopeful.

So yes, being kicked out of our venue by our landlord two weeks after the storm sucked and has left everything muddy—just like so much of our landscape here still post-storm. And my other business flooding (and issues with my business partner in that endeavor making moving forward together impossible) was another shocking and unexpected blow. Pile on that a solid 1/3 of my income used to come from my Airbnb rental—which resulted in thousands lost during our most-popular tourism months for leaf-peeping—and the word destitute tries to push its way to the surface.

But 2024 and all the pain it brought with it are in the past. Today, I look ahead to brighter days, a more connected community, and a hope that the weaknesses that Hurricane Helene and COVID exposed can be addressed thoughtfully and strategically in our region.

Happy(ish) New Year. I will continue to practice daily gratitude, help where I can, and get my life and my business back on track. It’s going to take a lot of patience, struggle, and resilience these next 364 days, but we have no choice but to press on, seek out the positive, and support our region’s recovery however we can.