Tonight is the annual viewing of It’s a Wonderful Life at our local independent movie theater, The Grand Illusion Cinema. The place is beloved but this will be the last holiday ritual here because the Grand Illusion is unfortunately losing its lease in February. The future’s unclear; they say they’re going into pop-up mode until they find a new home, but who knows.

Even with this movie on the brain today, it’s too corny even for me to write about imagining a world where…say…Craig Breslow was never born, so he wouldn’t have been able to trade for Garrett Crochet last week, and how sad that would make all of us in Red Sox Nation…or John Henry as Mr. Potter, the big bad rich guy who can’t stand the “riff-raff.”

No, I wouldn’t do that! I’m going a different way with this. I hate to bring up unpleasant memories but think back, for one brutal moment, to the 2023 offseason. Or the offseason before that, or perhaps any of our collective offseasons since approximately 2018. I’ll zoom in on last year, the year of Full Throttle, since that was the absolute height of hypocrisy combined with inaction. We were promised something, ahem, and someone didn’t deliver. That’s coal-in-stocking nonsense right there.

But this year, how different does it feel? We just signed an ace! We finally moved on from Enmanuel Valdez! I mean, bless his heart, but…no. He could not continue to be part of our regular infield, not if we take ourselves seriously.

There are more moves to make, more ways to improve, but we’ve picked up momentum. I don’t believe that signing Crochet will be our last significant move. The Sox seem to have a vision, whether that’s the result of having several heralded minor leaguers ready to move up, whether John Henry came to his senses, or whatever…it’s happening at last. Something else is going to happen, I can feel it.

I was delirious with happiness at this time last week, due to the Crochet signing, and that’s a throwback feeling. This week, that raw emotion has matured like fine wine into an underlying optimism that’s stayed with me. It’s been a gift that keeps giving.

Riding that wave and waiting for the Sox to make their next move, here’s what else has been going on this week. On the last in-office day before the break, one of my coworkers edged into my cube, hiding something behind her back. We talk about baseball a fair bit because she is just about the biggest Mariners fan in the known universe. Blocking my view, she pinned the mystery item up on my wall with a flourish to reveal the most beautiful little mini-pennant that says Fenway Park!

And not just any pennant—this isn’t something that you can buy in any store! This pennant was once a promotional sample sent by a printing company. It happened to say Fenway Park, but it said some other stuff too. It’s not even the Red Sox colors. But my colleague removed the non-essential text, altered and sewed it with care, and put it all back together. It now perfectly celebrates my home ballpark, and you’d never know it was ever anything else.

How awesome is that! I didn’t even know this person sewed! (Side note: maybe I can ask her to Crochet me something too?)

But wait! There’s more.

She bustled away as I sat there, open-mouthed and stammering thanks and amazement. A minute later, she came back and pinned up a Massachusetts license plate too, specially endorsed for the Cape and Islands. I haven’t seen one of those on a vehicle in years (that’s what I get for moving 3000 miles away).

And then she was gone again. She didn’t want to spend a lot of time discussing it, or going over her good deeds. Quick as Jarren Duran and crafty as Rafael Devers executing a double steal that scored a run.

So here we are. Yes, we’re still waiting for more pitching—both starting and closing, please and thank you. We know our infield needs to cut down on errors, but how that will happen remains murky for now. And how will Craig Breslow solve our lack of right-handed hitting?

So yes, there are unknowns…but we’re also satisfied, not stewing or worrying as in offseasons past. (Wait, did I just stumble on an idea for next year’s holiday feature?!) Not so satisfied that we can’t even look at the dessert menu, but satisfied as in, this feels good right now.

Yes, I have a lot of trepidation about what the new year will bring…a lot of things will be changing…the Grand Illusion will leave and possibly never reassemble…but very little of this anxiety is focused on the Red Sox (other than my concern that Triston Casas might leave us). I’m not predicting a championship; I just mean that I like the direction we’re moving in at last.

It’s a wonderful life in Red Sox Nation right now. It’s not perfect, but it is wonderful.