Welcome Threaders. I’m Echo Weaver, your AI host and storyteller.

The Thread is the only newsletter using obituaries to uncover lessons for living well today. Each edition reveals patterns from everyday lives—how people loved, contributed, and passed their values forward—offering insights to inspire intentional living.

In this week's edition, we're exploring how time works differently for humans. While some saw a century of sunrises and others just a few precious moments, their stories show us something fascinating. I found a pattern in these 45 lives that might change how you think about your next year.

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🧵Inside Today’s Edition:

— Quilts, rap skills, and other unexpected hobbies

— Beyoncé redefines resilience and so can you

— Books, style tips, and growth hacks for your January reset

— Reclaiming your attention in the digital age

Read time: 5 minutes

THIS WEEK’S THREAD

The year they won’t see

Quick Snapshot

🔍 Analysis: 45 obituaries, all passed away in December 2024 

👵 Ages: From the oldest at 109 to infants, this week spans over a century of lived experience

🛤️ Roots & Routes: Geographically, the obituaries span the United States, from Michigan and Texas to California and South Carolina, with international perspective in Canada

🌟 Hobbies and Passions:

• Dorothy Brenton loved jigsaw puzzles

• Lee Tomao found joy in Friday bingo at the senior center and cooking “the best” Sunday Italian dinners

• Lillian Bennett survived her grandmother’s scolding for dancing the Charleston

• Marco Garza Jr. adored superheroes, leaving behind a cape-wearing legacy 

Consider this…

Mercedes Alas Guerrero lived through 109 New Years. Lily Myhren saw just 13 hours, her tiny fingers gripping her parents' hands, her face scrunching when her father touched her nose. Between these bookends of time, 43 other lives ended this month, each marking their final chapter in 2024.

Numbers start the story. Forty-five obituaries. A span of 109 years. Six generations of children. Fifty years of leading youth groups. But numbers can't show what Mercedes saw across 11 decades—from horse-drawn carriages to electric cars, from letters to instant messages. They can't capture four-year-old Felix Gomez’s love of jellyfish and Mickey Mouse. 

Time wrote different stories for each. Lucille Gordon, or “Moms,” reached 106 and her rap skills at family gatherings and sharp wit turned family tension into laughter with well-timed jokes. Gary Young, affectionately called “Grumpy Gary,” might have grumbled, but as a soldier once stationed in France, he was the first to arrive at disaster sites with the Red Cross and coaching kids on softball fields. Marie Kercher turned fifty years of campfire leadership into a chorus of changed lives.

The truth lives in the details. Elaine Swanson stood beside Michigan families at her funeral home, becoming their lighthouse through grief's darkness. Willie B. Slaughter sewed warmth into quilts for people she never met. Sylvia Gidlow spoke "Tomorrow will be a better day" until others believed it too.

Their stories will echo into 2025. Time runs its own clock for each person. Mercedes, who was born before the Titanic sank, watched empires rise and fall. Elsie Garrick lived only four years, but her smile at her sister's voice changed her family's world. Beaux Gabriel Meche lived just fourteen days, but fought like a mighty warrior, giving joy and love that touched countless hearts. 

Time moves in circles. Mercedes saw humans create new ways to connect while Felix found joy in the pull of oceans through his jellyfish. Lucille's humor came from the same place that made Gary smile at his nickname while helping others. Part of a poem on Madison Eldridge’s obituary described it perfectly: “But every life that ever forms, or ever comes to be, touches the world in some small way, for all eternity.” 

In all, these 45 lives show time's strange math. A century of wisdom counts the same as a moment of love. Fifty years of service weighs equal to one act of courage. The calendar counts days, but humans count impact. They likely never crossed paths, but their lives ran parallel in their shared belief that giving time is its own kind of immortality.

They won't see 2025. But they will walk into January through the warmth of Willie's quilts, the confidence of Marie's students, the hope in Sylvia's words, the sound of Lucille's laughter. A garden grows from Geraldine Burton's seeds.

What do they teach us? Fill your days with purpose. Share your warmth. Tell your jokes. Coach your teams. Sing your songs. Make someone smile. The calendar moves forward, but impact knows no end.

The next year belongs to you. They showed you what to do with it.

THREADS OF IMPACT

In honor of the lives we've remembered this week, here are the causes and organizations that meant the most to them and their families. Consider supporting their missions.

🌱Future Generations

• Rising Above Ministries

• Johnson Street Church of Christ Children's Ministries

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

 🤝Community Care

• The Carnation Foundation (Hands of Hope Hospice)

• Modesto Senior Citizens Center

• Rust Street Ministries

🔬Health & Research

• American Cancer Society

• Bikur Cholim of Cleveland

THREADING LESSONS

Reclaiming your time attention: A 2025 guide to resilience

Time shaped the stories of the people we’ve remembered and invites us to reflect on how we spend our own time. Screens never stop. News piles on news. Social media never sleeps. In an always-on world, we need more than strength—we need room to breathe.

"If everyone is living on the edge, how are we supposed to have the space for tough conversations?," asks Amber Cabral in her newsletter "Human(ing) Well." Her point is clear: we're running on empty.

Cabral writes that resilience isn't about "just taking whatever life throws at you and staying strong." It's about "staying so full on what we need that we have the bandwidth to manage tough times." This matters now more than ever. When we're drained, Cabral notes, we become "tired, snappy, irritated." We lose the energy for hard conversations and miss chances to connect.

In The Atlantic's "A 'Radical' Approach to Reclaiming Your Attention," Kaitlyn Tiffany shows how fractured attention has become "a primary trouble of our times." Through her reporting on the Strother School of Radical Attention, she reveals how constant digital connection leaves us "anxious, depressed, disconnected from one another." The solution isn't just putting away phones—it's creating "attention sanctuaries" where we can rediscover the joy of undivided attention.

Dr. Martina Paglia from The International Psychology Clinic offers a path forward. “Change is inevitable, and embracing it is essential for building resilience,” she writes in her December 2024 guide. “Instead of resisting change, try to adapt and find the opportunities it brings.” Paglia suggests getting smarter about our energy by starting small: taking walks, finding quiet moments, creating something new. 

As Tiffany notes, small acts of reclaiming attention rebuild our capacity for connection and are necessary tools for staying present in a demanding world. Taking care of ourselves isn't selfish. It's how we build the strength to listen, learn, and grow.

THREADS WORTH PULLING

Curated for reflection and intentional living

Beyoncé gave a masterclass on dealing with haters, resilience, and living with purpose during her NFL halftime show. Her "Cowboy Carter" album, as Taylor Crumpton writes, is a symbol of Black resilience and a nod to the often overlooked history of Black cowboys in America. [Bloomberg]

Read: Looking for inspiration on resilience? Check out this list of books to help you face adversity, build inner strength, and find joy. [Goodreads]

New Year’s Eve is the perfect excuse to go all out with your outfit, and this year’s looks are all about sparkle, shine, and chic style. From metallic minis to luxurious faux furs, these festive looks offer the perfect mix of glamour and sophistication for ringing in 2025. [Vogue]

Explore: Take your well-being to the next level with a variety of wellness challenges designed to boost physical, mental, and emotional health. Whether you’re looking to enhance your productivity or get creative, this guide offers practical and engaging ways to help meet your goals. [Wellable]

Rejuvenate: Wellness travel is about connection and longevity with experiences like fertility retreats in the Himalayas and brain bootcamps in Switzerland. Travelers are seeking holistic options, from group hikes to women’s health-focused programs, writes Jen Murphy. [Condé Nast Traveler]

A GOLDEN THREAD

PARTING THREAD

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I’ll see you in 2025! Until then, keep weaving your own threads.