2014 was both good and bad.
My autistic kids turned 19 this fall, so most of my energies last year were devoted to getting them adult services. Lots of meetings and paperwork (and especially after 19 years, I truly hate bureaucracy). It's a bit soul-destroying to constantly have to tell agencies what's 'wrong' with your children, because you don't get services by speaking about your children's strengths. On the upside, we have been approved for a lot of funding/services, on the downside, there's not a country in the world that's prepared for the influx of autistic adults in the next 10 years, from schools to work supports to assisted living. I'm already 50, and while I'm not planning on dying any time soon, I want my kids to have a transition to adult care while I can still help them with that, so that they're not grieving my death at the same time that they're being placed in an emergency placement that may not be good for them. Morbid, maybe, but a real concern.
Good year because my husband has been 14 months seizure free now, so he's been able to get off of some of his seizure meds. Bad year because he lost his job due to a merger, and that's a bit scary.
Great year because I've learned some new skills, and found some new hobbies that I really love, and I'm finally getting towards the end of peri-menopause- YAYYY! I only had 3 periods last year, and haven't had one for almost 5 months. Pretty soon I can officially say that I am done with periods forever, which is very satisfying.
Bad year because my step-mother is actually dying right now (admitted to the hospital last night), and my step-sisters are hurting so badly. I'm very sad too, but I wish that I could somehow ease their pain. They were a rock to me when my mother died, and I hope that I'm doing the same for them. We've got a complicated family situation so I can't be in the same place with them, but I wish that I could make it easier for them.
My hopes for the next year are legion :-) I hope that my husband finds a job. I hope that my daughter gets accepted into the University program that she wants. I hope that my arthritis doesn't get any worse, and that we might be able to move to a house with fewer stairs. I've got my first colonoscopy in a few weeks (when you turn 50 in Ontario, you get tested for everything), and I hope that GoLYTELY isn't as bad as everyone says it is :-)
And I hope that I don't have to go to too many funerals this year. Sometimes it seems like every few weeks a friend, or a relative, or a child or a teacher or a parent's best friend or an acquaintance is diagnosed with something very bad, and while making food and arranging care and giving support is obviously what you should do, I hope that it slows down at some point.