One of the women I dated in college, uh, went to Hope, and so I spent a fair amount of time in Holland, Michigan in the early to mid-2000s. And it felt like such a magical place and a magical time, and I kinda felt it at that time, too. So she would often take me out to Holland State Park. Especially early in the relationship, that, that courting phase, that honeymoon period. Um, and I was actually just telling my youngest brother about this this weekend.  I remember her taking me down to Holland State Park, 2004. And we were playing frisbee, and I'm really bad at frisbee. Right on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, there. I, I had just had the classic problem, which is when I throw the frisbee, it just turns sideways in the air and loses its -- just kinda curves down into the ground. But she was pretty good with a, with a frisbee, I remember. So, wanting to impress her in the most naïve late teens, early 20s type of way, I thought in my head, if I wasn't a good frisbee thrower, I could be a good frisbee catcher. Which basically just means I'm a golden retriever, it means I'm a dog. So there'd be certain times where, you know, she would throw the frisbee a little higher and I would let it float up there a little bit and then I would jump up to grab it. Because I, I was a basketball player, so I was like, "Here's what she'll like: me jumping high to grab something." Um, that was my game at the time. And then another time, I remember, she was pretty good at throwing the frisbee, but one time she overthrew me pretty well. Like, tossed it over my head, and instantly, I was like, "Ooh, I can chase this one down. She probably thinks I won't, but I'm gonna get there." So I broke out into a dead sprint and, you know, it's kinda hard 'cause you're, like, barefoot in sand, and so. Um, but like a wide receiver, I went and chased that thing down and, uh, I caught it. However, I ran out of real estate and I had run into those giant, like, boulder rocks that are right on the edge of, like, a pier's walkway. Stabbed my toe on one of those…

I actually had a really bad, almost car crash scare on Friday, so I guess I'm gonna talk about that a little bit. So I was driving to school and I had two exams that day. I had to take my math analysis HL exam and my chemistry HL exam for my IB diploma. And while I was driving to school, I, like, got really close to this one road, that's like near a major road, and a big red truck makes a turn out of a gas station, right in front of me. I had literally, like, maybe two seconds tops to figure out what I was doing and I managed to save myself. But here's the thing -- I don't know why that red truck thought that he could turn because I was right there and he was making a left, and, like, there was someone in that left lane so like I couldn't -- I had to pull up onto the right curb. My car got a little bit scuffed up and I was honestly just, like, in shock, like shaking, frozen, not feeling all the best after that whole incident. So I was kind of like, “Oh my gosh.” Like, I literally felt like I almost died. And then I had to drive up to the school and immediately take a math test. So here is the ironic thing is that last year, around the time of finals, I got into a car crash, somebody rear ended me and my car got totaled. And that day was the day of my chemistry test, like my chem final. And the funny thing was that later in that afternoon, I was taking the chem IB exam. And you're probably thinking, “Okay? So, what did having to take the math exam have to do with it?” Well, because I was like, very high stress about math and my math exam was the next day, and like, I went home and I couldn't study ‘cause my car was like, totaled, it was destroyed. I was freaking out and not having a good time at all. So I ended up talking to my teacher and asking if I could have an extra day so I could study the day before the exam before my math final. So I took the chemistry final though, on the day of my car crash and…

I remembered a time that I was outside and get caught in a storm. I had walked over in our neighborhood to get ice cream with my husband and our friend, and it was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for ice cream. We, you know, took a leisurely stroll, had a very nice time. We get our ice cream and we're walking back, and it was literally, like, the snap of your fingers, went from beautiful sunny skies to torrential rain just pouring down. I don't think I've ever seen something switch that quickly. There was not a cloud in the sky, no hint that there was gonna be a storm. And so we obviously were completely unprepared and we were probably only two blocks from our house. And, so we took off sprinting back to the house. And it didn't matter, within a second we were completely drenched through so rushing made no difference. Although, it does feel unnatural to walk in rain like that and not attempt to get out of it. So, I suppose we would’ve done that regardless. But we got back and we were all just, like, soaked completely through. Um, and, you know, obviously, got changed and warmed up, but that was I think the only time I've been outside and got caught in something like that just because there was no, um, hint that was gonna happen. There was no -- nary a dark cloud in the sky.

She passed very quietly and she just ran down. That was kind of the way it was with my dad when he died, that she -- he had been in this coma state for about 14 hours, I think. And my mom had been standing beside him holding his hand for practically the whole time. And I finally talked her into going and sitting down in another room in a recliner to rest. And the nurse told me, as I was going back into his room, she says, "Sometimes people need permission to go, that they can't let go until they know that everything will be all right." And so I went in, and it was just me and one other person who was sitting off to the side. And I went in and took my dad's hand, and I told him that I would take care of mom, that she could come live with us, that anything that she needed, that I would take care of her, and that he didn't have to worry because she would always have a place to live with us. And he never took another breath. That was all he needed to hear. He just needed to hear that mom would be okay. And that's what was keeping him from doing his transition.  So, so, if you ever are with a loved one, who is passing, I always encourage people -- uh, sometimes I'm with people who, um, they are with their loved one, but they want somebody else with them. Like, one time, there was a, a teenage boy who was the only family member with his father who was passing, and he did not want to be there alone. And so, we took turns, their vigil companions, we took turns being with him, with his father, so that he wouldn't be alone. And whenever I'm with someone, I always encourage them to talk to your loved one, tell them you love them. Don't bring up bad things that they need to worry about, obviously, but talk to them. Tell ‘em you love them. Tell ‘em about your family. Not too long ago, I was with a woman who was with her mother, who was passing, and she was just nervous, ‘cause she didn't understand the death process and just didn't know what to expect and she just needed somebody there to kinda…