From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the leap feels almost instantaneous. Time seems to race faster with every passing year, and December feels shorter and shorter. A hundred tasks to juggle, a hundred thoughts swirling. Mornings disappear in a blur, afternoons vanish just as quickly, and days that dragged in November now sprint toward the most dazzling midnight of the year.

Frenetic days filled with twinkling lights, home decorations, and festive shop windows blend into the daily grind—gift lists to tick off, last-minute office deadlines to meet—until suddenly, the year is ending. A flood of thoughts, a flood of memories.