
Action is the antidote to despair.
Joan Baez
I’m so very happy to see 2025!
Or, more specifically, I’m very happy 2024 is behind me. I don’t think I could have handled much more of that roller coaster. Overwhelming, really.
I am sure many of you have felt this same way at times; as if your shoulders couldn’t bear one more enormous pressure and you wish they could all just disappear. Yes – that was my 2024. I look to 2025 to be the year that brings a great deal of relief and the freedom to do my Trisha thing again, the way I want to do it.
My 2024:
Early February: my daughter, Becca, died. I shared that information with you soon after.
Mid-March: After so many years of dealing with Becca’s illness, plus dealing with the heat and hurricanes of Florida, my retired husband and I agreed that we needed a fresh start. We decided to leave Florida and move closer to family in Virginia and Pennsylvania. We put our house on the market, then took a road trip north. We found a great 55+ community near Richmond, VA where we would build a new home. Our Florida home sold quickly.
Late March: I was diagnosed with a kidney tumor. It was found by accident! Great timing with the house sale, right? But we worked with the buyers and were able to postpone our move-out until after the surgery required to remove that tumor….
In April, we held the first of two celebrations of life for Becca in Southern California.
In early June: I had kidney surgery, and the tumor was then deemed to be renal cell carcinoma – kidney cancer. I wrote about all that last Fall.
Because in late July – we had put all our worldly goods in storage (well, most of them) and moved into a small rental not far from the new home being built for us. That was move #1.
In August, we held the second celebration of life for Becca in the Adirondack Mountains of NY.
In September, my husband had eye surgery. It was repair surgery because his earlier cataract surgery in Florida had been botched. His left eye had been totally screwed up and afterward he had been told nothing could be done to repair it. Seems like that wasn’t so true because the surgeon here in Virginia did repair it. (A lesson learned – see below.)
Throughout these months – from March until November, we worked with the builder to make decisions about our new house. That was the fun part! We also did all the tasks needed for a move – changing utilities, address changes (at least this time most could be done electronically instead of requiring stamps!) Not so fun, but at least I felt like I was accomplishing something.
Finally, in early November, our new house was completed, and we were able to move into it.
Move #2!
Since then, we’ve lugged, unpacked, added on, built, paid our way through living in a new place with all new neighbors in an all-new location, not to mention all new supermarkets and doctors….
And we are so happy to be here!

We’re exhausted, but pleased with our choice of location. The people we’ve met are so friendly. The customer service people we’ve dealt with are so helpful and pleasant (something we rarely encountered in Florida, by the way.) We know we made a good choice.
Most importantly, we accomplished that fresh start.
And now, 2024 with all its grief, fear, craziness, and exhaustion, has been relegated to the rear view mirror.
We’ve stepped off the roller coaster. Life has become far more manageable.
So what have I learned to share with you? A few things:
First – sometimes life gets in the way. I’ve also heard it described as life is what happens when you’re making other plans. I wrote a long post about this on the APHA blog many years ago, with some solid business advice for advocates on how to take care of their practices.
Second – that when life doesn’t seem to be what you want it to be, or what makes you happy, YOU need to be the one who changes it. No one else is going to, or CAN, do it for you. For the three+ months we lived in our rental house during the summer, we watched The Kelly Clarkson Show at 3 PM (almost) every afternoon. Kelly ends her show each day with “Make it a great day. And if it’s not, change it!
D*mn straight, girl! Great advice.
And third – so much more of our lives is under our control than we realize. When bad things happen, we might feel helpless, but there may be further decisions we can make, or steps we might take, or research we might do, or conversations we might have that improve the situation and make our decision-making easier. My husband’s botched surgery is an example of that. We just didn’t take NO for an answer.
In many ways, that’s the role of an advocate, right? If your client (or you, or your family member) doesn’t get the answer they seek – then look elsewhere. Just be sure the new advice makes sense. (Don’t embrace magical thinking that’s actually more dangerous or expensive than helpful.)
[As an aside… My entire patient empowerment and health advocacy career was predicated on this exercise of seeking additional information and resources.]
So – now what? What’s next?
My Gen Z friends would tell you I am manifesting 2025 to be a stellar year 
And so I am. Give it a try! Whether it’s your personal life or your business life, you, too, can shift your mindset – your life – into something more positive than it might otherwise turn out to be.
You, too, can even out the roller coaster of your life into something that makes you happier. It’s in YOUR control.
An invitation:
Wow, what a year! All the best in 2025!
Thanks, Trisha, for your inspiring words.
Wishing you and your family great outcomes in all aspects of your lives in 2025.