Your Next 50

January 9, 2025

I'm going to spend the next several weekends doing something I absolutely should not be doing given that I have a book manuscript due in just three weeks: watching football.

Yes, football. My children find it endlessly entertaining that their middle-aged, self-proclaimed nerd of a mom morphed into a diehard football fan in late 2020. Blame it on Covid and the need for something joyful during those endless months inside Western New York's frosty embrace. The Bills, after all, were playing brilliantly for the first time in decades, and I’m a sucker for excellence. So, naturally, I joined the Bills Mafia and started cheering with the gusto of someone who just discovered Buffalo wings.

“Wait, are we sports people now?” my daughters would ask, eyeing me skeptically as I and the dogs settled in for another episode of Nerds Watching Football. My reply was the same as always: “We’re whatever we decide to be. We can change course whenever we like. Want some popcorn?” They’d wisely retreat before I could launch into my beloved speech about the joys—and perils—of free will.

Corny as it sounds, it’s true. And it’s an especially handy reminder this time of year: We’re all whatever we decide to be, and our kids are whoever they choose to be. And we can take a deep breath and plow freshly into our own work no matter what the time of year. So as I watch my long-time contenders pull off miracles on the field, I’ll be doing the same with the final edits on a book about organizing healthy communities—with, I hope, the same passion and intelligence Josh Allen brings to his own work.

Wishing you and your family much success as you head to your own personal line of scrimmage for 2025!

—Deb