There’s a song that has been on repeat in my mind lately—“Wish I Knew You” by The Revivalists. The melody wraps around me like a warm blanket on a cold January day, but it’s the lyrics that hit me in that sweet spot between nostalgia and longing. It’s a song about the connections we make, the ones we miss, and the bittersweet realization that sometimes, we find people later in life and wish we had known them sooner.

January is a heavy month for me. I’ve written before about how it’s supposed to represent fresh starts and new beginnings, but for me, it also carries a weight of reflection and loss. So much of what has happened in my life—tragedy, grief, and the weight of deferred dreams—seems to come rushing back in the cold January wind. It’s like standing in front of a mirror, not to see who I am, but to feel the absence of those who should have been standing beside me.

In “Wish I Knew You,” the lyrics speak of longing, that deep desire to have known someone earlier, to have shared life’s moments sooner. And I feel that deeply. There are people I’ve lost over the years, some to time, some to circumstance, and some to death. I wish I had known them better, known them longer, or at least had more time to tell them what they meant to me.

But time doesn’t work that way. It’s a constant forward march, and the best we can do is reflect and treasure the connections we have now. The song reminds me that while I can’t go back, I can still cherish the present. It’s about looking around at the people in our lives now and making sure they know us, truly know us, before it’s too late.

In the month of January, when the trees are bare and the world feels cold, I reflect on what it means to know someone—to really know them. It’s a process, not a moment. It’s a willingness to dive deep into the layers of who someone is, to unravel their stories like an archaeologist in Troy, looking for hidden truths beneath the surface.

As I sit with these thoughts and the echoes of “Wish I Knew You,” I think about how many losses and missed connections shape who we are. It’s easy to get swept up in the everyday grind, to assume there will always be time to reconnect, to repair, to understand. But the truth is, time waits for no one. The song reminds me that while I can’t undo the past, I can make the most of the present.

So as this January unfolds, I’ll be taking a moment to honor those I’ve lost, to reflect on the connections I cherish, and to embrace the people who are here now. I want to know them before I’m left wondering what could have been.

Maybe that’s what January is really for—not just new beginnings, but a time to pause and reflect on the threads of connection we weave through our lives. Like the song says, we may wish we knew people sooner, but the beauty is in knowing them now, and making every moment count.