I'm Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown.

Is it too late to wish you all a happy new year?

I don't think so.

I don't think there's ever an expiration date on well wishes.

And frankly, we need all the wellishes we can get for 2026.

The year we left behind was a real mixed bag, wasn't it?

I was ill on New Year's Eve and went to bed around 10 o'clock, so I missed the midnight ball drop and the confetti and the whole shebang.

My son and daughter stayed up together and counted down,

toasting with champagne flutes filled with sparkling cider, as is tradition.

They kindly skipped the other tradition of ours, late-night living-room karaoke,

because they knew their sick mother was trying to sleep, their good kids. But the next morning,

when I asked them how their celebration went without me, they agreed.

The atmosphere on TV wasn't very festive.

My daughter said the highlight reel of the year's news stories was more of a low-light reel

of its worst horrors.

Nothing like gearing up for midnight with a slideshow of everything terrible that happened over the last 12 months. It doesn't

exactly make you want to toast and cheer. And now what?

The truth is, some of the worst of last year is already carrying over into this one.

Unfortunately, a new year doesn't mean a completely fresh start or positive outcomes, if only.

But it does somehow feel like an opportunity for us to leave some things behind, tie up loose ends,

and be more intentional about what we bring with us into the future.

If there's no expiration date on wishing others a happy new year,

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