Born on 1 January 2022

Back in 2022, life felt like we were finally shaking off a long slumber, rubbing our eyes and stepping back out into a world that felt both familiar and strangely frantic. If you were there, you’ll remember that summer—the "Great Heatwave" where the tarmac practically bubbled and we all huddled indoors with the curtains shut, nursing lukewarm glasses of squash while the news warned us of forty-degree peaks. We spent those nights glued to the telly for the final series of *Peaky Blinders* or humming along to Harry Styles’ "As It Was," which seemed to play from every passing car window.

It was the year of the Jubilee, with bunting draped over every red-brick terrace, followed so suddenly by that quiet, somber week in September when the Queen passed and the world seemed to tilt on its axis. We were obsessed with Wordle, sharing those little yellow and green squares like a badge of honour over our morning tea, and somehow everyone was suddenly into air fryers. Kids were losing their minds over Prime hydration drinks, while we all flocked to the cinema to see Tom Cruise defy age in *Top Gun: Maverick*.

It was a year of big transitions and odd weather, but God, it felt good to be together again.