Tonight, we say goodbye and farewell to yet another year. Every year has its highs and lows and 2024 was no different. When I think about highs and lows in 2024, a lot of things come to mind, including many global issues and crises. But, frankly, if I were to think of a couple of images that sum up both crushing defeat and our ability to rise up and out of the ashes, I think about buildings. Yeah, that’s right. In April of 2024, the iconic and historic Danish building and tourist attraction Børsen (which translates to ‘the stock exchange’) burned down. I was in Copenhagen on the day that it happened, and I remember how I and everyone around me lost focus and just started looking out of the window at smoke rising, as a building that’s always been a part of our lives was suddenly gone before you knew it. There is hope that it can be rebuilt, and it is that hope that I want to highlight here because, as a symbol, I am immediately reminded of the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris following its own tragic and fiery catastrophe. When we fall, we can rise again. If we do it together, we can rebuild what we hold dear. And even though the state of the world can look scary, we can unite around worthy causes to keep culture and history alive for generations to come. We need that hope.

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