It's been a strange start to the year, here in Switzerland, with the news of the tragedy in Crans-Montana.
On the morning of January 1st my wife and I woke up to breaking news of a fire in a Swiss mountain nightclub. We opened the link and immediate started to panic: our second son had headed up to Crans-Montana for New Year's Eve to surprise his girlfriend (who was there with family over the New Year's period).
Neither his nor his girlfriend's phones were turned on - it was 7am on January 1st, so no great surprise, but still anxiety-inducing - but we quickly got a response from the girlfriend's mother, who confirmed they had come home shortly after midnight and were still sound asleep.
It was a moment of panic to kick off the year, but as we became more aware of the details our hearts just sank. The extent of the tragedy unfolded before our eyes - so many young people lost their lives or suffered life-altering burns. The scale of the disaster was insane: Switzerland is already not a large country, but the French-speaking area is just one region, and many of our friends spend time in Crans-Montana during the winter season, in particular. I'm dreading hearing that friends were directly or indirectly impacted - so far the main people we know who visit the town appear not to have been impacted directly, at least.
Under different circumstances, it's certainly the kind of bar my son and his girlfriend could have ended up at. Neither are big party animals, but at New Year the usual rules don't apply: it's hard not to project when you see the images and videos of the catastrophe starting to be shared.
Anyway, they're both fine. My heart goes out to those affected in any way by this tragedy.
I'm not a big maker of resolutions, as far as it goes, but my head is currently very much in the space of making the most of life and the people around me during the coming year: I plan to cherish my time with family and friends, in particular, as so many lives being cut short highlights the utter fragility of our existence. Never miss an opportunity to tell those dear to you how much you love them.
Here's a photo I took today of someone I plan on cuddling a lot during 2026.
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