July 13, 2026Should you need it here is your review to rememberthat just above & below the moments of helplessnesslingered good moments with no objective measures.Take a moment to recall the moments you got most excited:those little cinematographies of summer, the harvest of parkor parking choreographies, those occasional etherealslow-motion evenings. Many moments were darkcomedies about the capitalist dehumanization of security.The bombs were ubiquitous. You had to keep your limbsloose until the sunrise became a warm velvet.At the start & end of the year your Mondays featuredstudents writing about their bodies,the only resource anyone can claim for most of life.Several of the year’s best moments came at the birthdayparties of your cousin at fifty-four & your grandmother at ninety,though there were moments of pot-boiling melodramabecause your mother chose to miss both parties.The year in review celebrates several days in the companyof your son, daughter & niece: the twentysomethings:in April in D.C. & over dim sum in Chinatown at Thanksgiving.High on the moments in review are the extraordinary handsof your daughter directing her brother & cousinas she stages an art exhibit selling her handmade lampsagainst the unravelling darkness of the government,her pale soon-to-be-let-go-by-the-Treasury Departmentex-boyfriend coming & going nervously as handsome brotherscame & went. In March there was this brief, glorious momentwherein there was not a whiff of Trump-Musk spoilingthe air of your ninth-grade niece’s track meet.A few memorable moments offered glimpsesof what one can be. At this age the most important thingyour talent & resources can secure is healthy love.The moments you left the phone pluggedin another room always were more memorablethan when you kept the screen close to your facemaking everything feel as nebulous as it does.Those moments are prized for your attention.You argued whether one had to lie to dream,the tensions between charm & narcissism,& the existence of Time with everyone younger than you.Your niece, son, & daughter: for Thanksgiving:remember what it felt like having them in the housewhen the bombs are ubiquitous.Some moments were propelled by fantasticperformances by the offspring of others.Sometimes a moment suddenly put youdirectly inside another moment that cut back & forthacross multiple moments & you got losttrying to reconnect with twentysomethingswhose childhoods were set around you.At moments like that, it’s important to knowyou’re not alone. Your top ten good momentsof the year include seeing “Sinners” once with your son & oncewith your daughter. The central conflictwas between creation & consumption on & offour screens. Real people were real characters.This year gave you new perspectives on parenting.Some moments held the best physical comedy in years.The less inventive through lines & misstepshad everything to do with gravity. You defined spacein terms of boundaries when space operates outsideboundaries. You defined Time by beginnings & endingswhen Time has no beginning & ending.Remember you only have to be good & clear & kind.